Thousands of men are to be checked for prostate cancer in one of the first large-scale European trials of smart screening.
The pilot study, starting next week in Ireland, will combine a blood test with personal risk factors and an MRI scan to increase the accuracy of screening men in their 50s and 60s.
Up to now health experts have rejected population screening in the belief that the benefits of earlier cancer detection were outweighed by the risks that some men could have unnecessary biopsies and risky treatment they don’t need.
But in the Irish pilot study, men will be scored by their PSA level and whether they have other risk factors such as black ethnicity or a family history.
Those at low risk will be retested in future.
Lynch Syndrome Ireland 