P-05-849 All men in Wales should have access through the NHS to the best possible diagnostic tests for prostate cancer
This petition was submitted by Stuart Davies, having collected 5,916 signatures online and 429 on paper, a total of 6,345 signatures.
Text of Petition
We, the undersigned call on the National Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh Government to act now and make high-quality, multi-parametric MRI (mpMRI) before biopsy scans available to all eligible men across Wales who have a suspicion of prostate cancer.
Why is this petition needed?
Prostate cancer can be difficult to diagnose. For years, men have
had biopsies that are invasive and painful. Sometimes they can lead
to serious infections – we only want men to have a biopsy if
it is needed.
If a biopsy is carried out before an mpMRI this involves using a
series of needles that randomly sample tissue from the prostate, to
see whether there are any cancerous cells. The problem with these
techniques is there are gaps between the needles, so sometimes
significant cancers can be missed if that section of tissue isn't
sampled. A biopsy can lead to false positives, where clinically
insignificant cancer is diagnosed, this can lead to unnecessary
overtreatment.
mpMRI scans can be used with other tests to improve the number of
aggressive prostate cancers being caught earlier. If the mpMRI is
carried out to a sufficient standard it's also been proven to
safely reduce the number of men who may have biopsies
unnecessarily, by ruling them out of having prostate cancer at an
earlier stage.
What is mpMRI?
mpMRI means multi-parametric MRI. This combines up to three
different types of scan for a clearer picture of what's going on in
the prostate. Also, an injection of a dye means that scan images
can be enhanced making it clearer to see if cancer is present or
not. This is different to a standard MRI scan which creates an
image of an internal organ, these are rarely clear enough to
confidently diagnose early prostate cancer.
What is happening in Wales?
There are 7 Health Boards in Wales, mpMRI before biopsy is being
provided in 3 Health Boards. Only one board is doing it to a
standard high enough to safely rule men out of biopsy. This means
men in 4 Health Boards do not have access to mpMRI as a diagnostic
test, unless they pay more than £900 to have it done
privately.
Find more information about mpMRI and biopsies here:
https://prostatecanceruk.org/prostate-information/prostate-tests/introduction-to-prostate-tests
Assembly Constituency and Region
· Clwyd South
· North Wales
Status
This petition is currently under consideration by the Petitions Committee.
Further information