More than 10,000 men die of prostate cancer every year in Britain

Prostate cancer sufferers are often older and in poorer general health

Prostate cancer patients are receiving ‘second rate’ care on the NHS compared to women with breast cancer, a report warns.

They are far less likely to be offered the latest drugs, be looked after by a specialist nurse, or given basic pain relief.

Campaigners accuse the health service of discriminating against men with prostate cancer, who tend to be more elderly than women with breast cancer.

Men with prostate cancer are far less likely to be offered the latest drugs, be looked after by a specialist nurse, or given basic pain relief compared to women with breast cancer, according to a new report (posed by model)

They also say Nice, the drugs rationing body, has made fewer prostate drugs available to the health service compared with those for other forms of cancer.

Paul Burstow, the Liberal Democrat MP and former health minister who wrote the report with cancer charity Orchid, said there was a ‘huge, unacceptable, inexplicable variation’ in standards.

He added: ‘Why should men with prostate cancer have to cope with second-rate services, a lack of vital support and limited access to world-class drug treatments and trials?’

There are 41,700 new cases of prostate cancer in the UK each year, and one in eight men will contract the disease at some point.

But the report warns that despite such high prevalence, men with the illness suffer far worse care than other cancer patients.

'I NEEDED MORE SUPPORT' Richard Smock was diagnosed with prostate cancer four years ago. The married 72-year-old was told the cancer had spread to his bones – and was therefore untreatable. Doctors are now giving him drugs to extend his life and help relieve symptoms, but he is not expected to survive past the age of 75. However he has never been put in touch with a dedicated nurse – known as a clinical nurse specialist – who could offer expert care and support. The father of three, who lives in Bromley, South-East London, said: ‘I would have really appreciated having someone to talk through the basic practicalities, particularly immediately following my diagnosis.’ He added: ‘It’s easy just to focus on the physical – the first thing you discuss is exactly how long you have left – but there is so much beyond that. ‘Having a dedicated individual to help navigate through the psychological, social and financial side of cancer would have been invaluable.’ Advertisement

There is no obvious reason why, but the majority of patients are elderly. Meanwhile women with breast cancer, for example, tend to be younger and in better health. Mr Burstow said: ‘We do require health providers to ask, “Are we doing everything we can to make sure men are getting access to cancer treatments they need as much as women?”

‘It’s something the NHS England cancer tsar should be looking at.’

Despite mortality rates improving substantially thanks to earlier diagnoses, prostate cancer still kills 10,800 men annually.

But figures show that only a third of men with the disease are offered the chance to take part in potentially life-saving clinical trials – which could also pave the way for new treatments for other patients.

The report also says that many men with incurable cancers are not offered life-extending treatments such as Docetaxel and Abiraterone.

This may be because doctors are not aware they are available – or assume they are not worthwhile.

There are also just 280 specialist nurses in England for all urological cancers – which include prostate, bladder, kidney and testicular – compared to 425 for breast cancer.

Some 13 per cent of prostate patients felt their care was substandard, against 10 per cent of women with breast cancer. Twenty-two per cent also felt staff did not do enough to control pain, whereas the figure was 17 per cent for breast cancer patients.

In addition, far fewer prostate drugs have been approved by Nice, meaning men must rely on getting unapproved drugs from the Cancer Drugs Fund – which can only be done through an oncologist.