MP demands prostate cancer screening after constituent diagnosed with terminal illness at 56

Mark Mansfield

A Welsh MP has called for a national prostate cancer screening programme after a constituent was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the age of just 56.

David Chadwick, the Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, raised the case of Peter Morris, from Brecon, during a Westminster Hall debate on prostate cancer screening.

His intervention follows a Senedd debate last week in which members backed calls for prostate cancer to be explicitly included in Wales’ forthcoming national cancer strategy.

Mr Morris discovered he had prostate cancer entirely by chance after visiting his GP about an unrelated health problem.

By the time the disease was detected, it had already spread beyond his prostate and was incurable.

He believes routine screening from the age of 50 could have identified the cancer early enough for potentially curative treatment.

Despite his terminal diagnosis, Mr Morris has been campaigning for wider screening in the hope of preventing other men and their families from facing similar circumstances.

Around 2,500 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in Wales each year, with approximately 640 dying from the disease.

‘Heartbreaking’

Speaking after the Westminster debate, Mr Chadwick said: “Peter’s story is absolutely heartbreaking. At just 56, he received a terminal cancer diagnosis entirely by chance, when he had gone to his GP about something completely unrelated.

“Had his cancer been discovered earlier, things could have been very different for him and his family.

“I want to personally thank Peter for allowing me to share his story in Parliament and pay tribute to the extraordinary courage he has shown.

“At a time when he and his family are dealing with something unimaginably difficult, Peter has chosen to use his own experience to raise awareness and fight for change so that others might be spared the same ordeal.”

Mr Chadwick wants the UK and Welsh Governments to introduce routine screening for men aged 50 and over, alongside targeted screening for those at greater risk.

His call follows a decision by the UK National Screening Committee (NSC) against introducing population-wide screening using the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test.

The committee concluded that screening was more likely to cause harm than benefit across the general population because of the risk of overdiagnosis and unnecessary treatment, which can cause lasting side effects including incontinence and impotence.

Instead, it recommended targeted screening for men with BRCA2 genetic mutations who have a family history of certain cancers.

Mr Chadwick warned that restricting screening to narrowly defined high-risk groups could leave men such as Mr Morris, who had no known family history of prostate cancer, without access to routine testing.

He said: “While I recognise there are concerns around overdiagnosis and unnecessary treatment, we cannot ignore the devastating consequences of cancers being detected too late.

“Advances in testing and diagnosis should be helping us overcome these challenges, rather than accepting that men like Peter will continue to fall through the cracks.”

Senedd debate

The issue was also debated in the Senedd on October 21, when members backed a Reform motion calling for prostate cancer to receive explicit attention in the Welsh Government’s forthcoming national cancer strategy.

Welsh Conservative MS Paul Davies, who is living with prostate cancer, supported the motion and also tabled an amendment calling for a national screening programme.

The Ceredigion Penfro MS said his experience had given him a “real insight” into the challenges faced by patients and their families.

He told the Senedd: “We have a responsibility to the men already living with prostate cancer in Wales, and to those that will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, to use this opportunity to get this strategy right.”

Reform’s shadow health minister Benjamin Hodge McKenna warned that too many men in Wales were being diagnosed when their cancer was already advanced, particularly in deprived communities.

He said a national cancer strategy without firm commitments to prioritise prostate cancer risked leaving men behind.

The motion was agreed with 90 votes in favour, although this did not amount to a commitment to introduce routine screening.

Screening controversy

Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has also challenged the NSC’s decision, arguing during the Westminster debate that its assessment relied on flawed assumptions about treatment costs and modern diagnostic methods.

Mr Sunak, an ambassador for Prostate Cancer Research, said he was “disappointed” by the decision and called for the evidence to be reconsidered.

However, Labour MP and former surgeon Dr Peter Prinsley highlighted the limitations of PSA testing, including false positive results and cases in which men with prostate cancer have normal PSA readings.

Responding for the UK Government, health minister Diana Johnson said the priority was to detect cancers earlier without exposing men to unnecessary treatment for cancers that might never cause harm.

She confirmed that men outside a national screening programme could still request a PSA test through their GP after discussing the potential benefits and risks.

In Wales, Health Minister Mabon ap Gwynfor has acknowledged that cancer services need to improve, telling the Senedd he was “not satisfied” with the current situation.

He said his priorities included improving survival rates, diagnosing more cancers early and ensuring patients could access treatment regardless of where they lived.

The Welsh Government intends to publish its ten-year national cancer strategy on World Cancer Day in February 2027, with a national cancer conference bringing together NHS leaders, clinicians, charities and other organisations.