Rishi Sunak joins Prostate Cancer Research as an ambassador

Former UK PM advocates for national screening programme

Rishi Sunak has joined Prostate Cancer Research as an ambassador to champion the charity’s campaign for a national screening programme for high-risk men.

The announcement follows his visit to Oxford BioDynamics’ labs, where he learned about the new EpiSwitch PSE blood test. This test detects prostate cancer with 94% accuracy: a significant improvement on the current PSA test. Sunak also spoke with prostate cancer patients about early detection and the need for a screening programme.

As an ambassador, Sunak will support the charity’s mission to advance research and treatments to create a future where prostate cancer no longer impacts lives. The Proactive For Your Prostate campaign is calling for a targeted national screening programme for men at high risk, and investments in better diagnostic tools and AI.

Prostate cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK. Around 1 in 8 men in the UK will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. The PSE test is available privately across the UK through healthcare providers.

Rishi Sunak, MP for Richmond and Northallerton, said: “I am honoured to become an ambassador for Prostate Cancer Research and support the charity’s mission to revolutionise diagnosis and treatment. Men tend to ignore pain hoping it’ll go away rather than going to see the GP and that’s a part of the reason why prostate cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer in males in the UK.

“We can do something about that. Early detection saves lives. Catching the cancer early drastically improves survival rates. A targeted national screening programme will help save many lives. I hope my work as ambassador for Prostate Cancer Research will encourage more men to get a screening test and prevent further needless deaths.”