NHS England is set to offer thousands of men with prostate cancer a form of targeted radiation therapy for the first time, mitigating the disease’s side effects while sparing eligible patients 15 courses of treatment as compared to conventional radiotherapy.
Suitable for patients with low or intermediate risk prostate cancer, stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) destroys cancer cells while sparing surrounding healthy tissue. Delivering high-dose radiation from multiple angles, the therapy is proven to be effective at a typical delivery of five doses within a fortnight, compared to at least 20 doses with standard radiotherapy.
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SABR will ‘significantly reduce’ the number of hospital visits required for treatment, NHS England stated.
The therapy will be offered to eligible patients at all 48 radiotherapy providers across England, with the first centres making it available from next week.
Sir Jim Mackey, NHS CEO, commented: “This cutting-edge approach will transform treatment for thousands of men with prostate cancer, helping the NHS provide far more powerful and convenient care to stop their cancer spreading.
“Having been proven effective in keeping cancer under control, this technology will not only help reduce the risk of certain side effects but also the major ‘to-and-fro’ burden of hospital treatment, which can be really draining for so many patients and their families.”
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in UK men, with 55,000 diagnoses annually and around 12,300 deaths. Of the total annual diagnoses, around 17,500 men are diagnosed with low or intermediate risk prostate cancer in England. Nearly a fifth of those diagnosed with this form of cancer – around 3,500 – may opt for SABR to treat their cancer and reduce its risk of spreading, according to NHS modelling.
SABR’s roll-out across the UK health service is being made possible following the UK Labour Government’s investment in new linear accelerator machines that deliver the therapy, coming as part of the NHS and government’s ‘National Cancer Plan for England’.
James Murray, secretary of state for health and social care, commented: “Backed by the Government’s £70m investment in radiotherapy machines, this treatment targets tumours with greater accuracy, helping to reduce side-effects and allowing many patients to complete their treatment in a fraction of the time compared with conventional radiotherapy.
“This is an important step in delivering our National Cancer Plan, expanding access to innovative cancer treatments ensuring more patients benefit from the latest advances in cancer care closer to home.”
Prostate cancer in focus
Prostate cancer gained additional public attention in the UK when former Olympian Sir Chris Hoy announced in October 2024 that he had received a terminal diagnosis of the disease.
Current NHS guidelines for England permit anyone to request a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test if they are over the age of 50. However, no national screening programme for prostate cancer in the UK currently exists, given that there is no reliable test that can detect the disease requiring treatment at an early stage.
The UK National Screening Committee’s (NSC) released a draft recommendation for a targeted prostate cancer screening programme on 28 November 2025, yet an expert panel advised against prostate cancer screening for most men in the UK. The panel cited a “high risk” for over-diagnosis versus only a small reduction in the amount of prostate cancer deaths.
On 2 June, the NSC released its final recommendations advising that only men with a genetic risk factor (BRCA2) and a family history of certain cancers would be eligible for prostate cancer screening.
Coinciding with the release of the NSC’s report, James Murray announced that all eligible Black men in the UK aged 45-74 would be be invited for prostate cancer screening as part of the TRANSFORM study led by researchers at Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Black men are affected by prostate cancer at a rate 50% higher than white men, with 1 in 4 receiving a diagnosis in their lifetime versus 1 in 8 white men.
Funded by Prostate Cancer UK and the UK government’s National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the TRANSFORM study aims to find the best way to screen for prostate cancer and increase the number of lives saved.
