Some prostate cancer patients are “missing out” on vital, life-saving treatment, a charity has warned.
Thirty-one per cent of men in England with aggressive but curable prostate cancer are missing out on treatments, Prostate Cancer UK said.
It comes as a new national audit of prostate cancer care in England and Wales revealed what the charity called a “postcode lottery” of care.
The audit showed an increase in the proportion of men who received radical treatments for prostate cancer in both countries.
Overall, 69 per cent of men with high risk or locally advanced disease in England had radical treatments in England, along with 68 per cent of patients in Wales.
It highlighted disparities in the figures across different parts of the country – in some regions under half of these patients (46 per cent) are getting radical treatments, compared to 87 per cent in others.
While the charity said some patients may not receive treatments for legitimate reasons – such as if they have other health issues and treating their cancer would be unlikely to extend their life – these would not explain the wide variation between the figures.
It said the audit also showed a significant proportion of men with incurable cancer are missing out on treatments that could give them years of extra life, with older men and Black men more likely to miss out on these life-extending treatments.
The audit revealed the number of men diagnosed with prostate cancer has increased in England and decreased in Wales.
Some 58,218 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in England in 2024, up from 53,462 the year before.
In Wales, 2,402 men were diagnosed in 2023, down from 2,551 in 2022.
#ProstateCancer remains the only major cancer without a national screening programme.
— Prostate Cancer UK (@ProstateUK) July 22, 2025
It’s about time things changed.
After years of research and campaigning, we’ve reached a crucial turning point.
🎥 Watch the full film: https://t.co/RuBUPFcNit#MensHealth l #Screening pic.twitter.com/JemHmYwD21
The audit also highlighted how around one in eight (12 per cent) men diagnosed with prostate cancer in England were diagnosed when their disease had spread to other parts of the body. This rose to one in five (20 per cent) cases in Wales.
Chiara De Biase, director of health services, equity and improvement at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “It’s outrageous that in 2025 men are dying of prostate cancer because they are not receiving treatments that should be routinely available on the NHS.
“Thousands of men each year are missing out on care that could give them many more years with their loved ones.
“For black men and those in areas of deprivation, the picture is even worse as they’re more often diagnosed at a later stage, when their cancer can’t be cured and less likely to get the treatments proven to help them live longer.
“This is a matter of life and death.”
A Welsh government spokesperson said: “We continue to work with the NHS in Wales to help them to plan, deliver, recover and improve cancer services and have set out how we will improve quality and consistency of treatment and care across the country in our cancer improvement plan.
“We provide funding for national cancer audits to help us to measure the quality of cancer care in Wales and improve how patients are treated.
“They show how we have improved in many aspects of cancer care but also highlight areas where further work is needed.”
NHS England has been asked for comment.
‘The messier, the better’ – Kate enjoys making imaginary cakes with children
Hate crime rises with religiously-motivated offences at record level
Government plans to axe public notices ‘devastating’ for local news, editors say
‘It started with wine o’clock, then I spiralled to drinking two bottles a day’
‘They’ve come for the hot chocolate’: More refills banned due to new obesity laws
‘Have a heart, NHS’: Readers share tough reality of living with coeliac disease
