Key Summary
- The NHS is contacting 500,000 men who are living with or have survived prostate cancer.
- A priority for the initiative is improving representation among Black men, who face approximately twice the risk of developing prostate cancer
- Actors Sir Stephen Fry and Colin McFarlane, both previous prostate cancer patients, are championing the nationwide rollout.
The NHS has launched a major national recruitment drive, contacting half a million men across England to establish one of the world’s largest prostate cancer research resources.
From this week, men who have been diagnosed with or treated for prostate cancer will receive letters and text messages inviting them to join Prostate Progress.
Led by the charity Prostate Cancer Research and supported by the NHS DigiTrials recruitment service, the initiative aims to accelerate the development of better diagnostic tests, targeted treatments, and post-care support.
Prostate cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK, with around 60,000 new diagnoses and over 12,000 deaths annually.
Men who join Prostate Progress will complete periodic questionnaires detailing their day-to-day quality of life and treatment side effects. With patient consent, these responses will be linked to their anonymised NHS medical records.
By combining clinical treatment histories with real-world patient feedback, verified researchers aim to uncover why certain cancers become aggressive, identify early indicators for screening, and refine personalised therapies.
Disparities in Black health
A priority for the initiative is improving representation among Black men, who face approximately twice the risk of developing prostate cancer – with one in four Black men in the UK expected to be diagnosed in their lifetime.
Actor Colin McFarlane, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2023, emphasised the necessity of diverse research data:
“Why are Black men twice as likely to develop prostate cancer? We still don’t know the full answer. Every research study that includes more Black men brings us a step closer to understanding why.
“If we’re missing from the data, we’re missing from the solutions. The answers we discover by including more Black men won’t just benefit the Black community – they’ll help improve care for everyone.”
Actor Sir Stephen Fry, who underwent surgery for prostate cancer in 2018, also called on men to participate, describing the programme as “genuinely hopeful” with the potential for “enormous collective good.”
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS National Clinical Director for Cancer, said: “Prostate cancer affects the lives of tens of thousands of men every year – and we’ve seen survival rates rising in recent decades thanks to ground-breaking research and clinical trials.
“We’ll be contacting over half a million men over the next few months who have or who have had prostate cancer, and I’d urge anyone who receives an invite to Prostate Progress to sign up.”
James Frith, Health Minister, said: “Prostate cancer is now the most common cancer in the UK, and every piece of data we gather brings us closer to the tests and treatments that future patients will depend on to live well for longer.
“This is the kind of innovation the government’s National Cancer Plan is designed to support, making the NHS a world-leading destination for cancer research.”
