Czechia initiates prostate cancer screening programme

Czechia will launch a new prostate cancer screening program in January 2024 to ensure early detection and treatment of the disease.

According to the data revealed by the Czech health ministry, prostate cancer affects around 8,000 men every year, almost three times more than 20 years ago. Approximately 1,400 men die from the disease every year.

Within the screening program, general practitioners and urologists will play a key role as they will be responsible for reaching out to men aged 50 to 60 to take a blood sample to screen for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels.

The public health insurance system reimburses the screening system. Czech citizens, therefore, do not have to pay anything for this type of care and prevention.

“Everything is covered by our solidarity system in cooperation with health insurance companies,” Czech Health Minister Vlastimil Válek (TOP 09) said when the new screening programme was announced on 23 November.

The new prostate cancer detection programme responds to a long-term increase in cases, with often late detection and complicated treatment. Prostate cancer survival rates increase if detected early.

“Alarmingly, despite targeted cancer prevention education, a large group of men are diagnosed late, at an advanced stage of the disease,” Ladislav Dušek, director of the Czech Institute of Health Information and Statistics, explained.

‘A huge step forward’

Besides GPs and urologists, radiology departments, biochemical laboratories and pathology departments will also be involved.

The role of the GPs is to approach men meeting the age criteria of 50-69 years. If a man refuses to be included in the programme, he will be approached again every two years until he reaches the upper age limit for the screening.

The men who get tested and their results show a PSA level above three µg/L are referred to a certified urology clinic for specialised follow-up care and examination, for example, by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

If the level is lower, further screening will be conducted in two or four years, depending on specific PSA test results.

Currently, there is no systematic programme for early detection of prostate cancer in the country.

“The introduction of the new prostate cancer screening is a huge step forward for men in the Czech Republic,” said Zdeněk Kurka, representative of the patient organisation called STK for Men.

“The programme not only offers new hope for life for many but also symbolises progress in cancer care based on prevention and innovation. It is a win for patients and their families,” he said when the programme was announced.

The programme will run as a five-year pilot, after which the progress and initial results will be evaluated.

PRAISE-U

With the launch of the prostate screening programme, the Czech Republic will be fully in line with the Council of the EU’s recommendations from December 2022. According to the guidelines, countries should consider prostate cancer screening programmes based on PSA testing and MRI scanning.

Czechia is also involved in the EU4Health-funded project PRAISE-U, aiming to reduce morbidity and mortality caused by prostate cancer in the EU through smart early detection.

The project should align protocols and guidelines for prostate cancer across EU member states and enable collecting and distributing relevant data. It gathers 25 institutions from 12 member states, including major pilot sites in Spain, Poland, Ireland and Lithuania.

Although Czechia is not among the pilot sites, it will contribute its data and knowledge.

The programme aimed at prostate cancer detection is one of several screening programmes in the Czech Republic. As Euractiv reported before, the country has a well-established breast cancer screening programme. In 2022, it also launched a pilot lung cancer screening programme.

[By Aneta Zachová | Edited by Vasiliki Angouridi]

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