Summary of results
cancers
SECONDARY, PROSTATE CANCER, CANCERS
This study has indicated that there could be substantial costs associated with the early years of a PSA testing programme for detecting prostate cancer. If all men aged 50–69 in England and Wales were to be offered the test simultaneously, the associated NHS secondary care costs arising from treatment of detected cancers could run to £628 million, which is unlikely to be affordable in the UK context, given NICE considerations [The results reflect that men diagnosed in the screening arm were treated promptly, leading to the observed higher costs in the first year. In subsequent years without the intervention, the number of men accessing treatment may have been more evenly balanced, so that it was not possible to detect differences above the general healthcare that men aged 50–69 receive. The observed costs increase as the years progress, which is likely to be due to the men requiring more treatments (for any reason) as they age.