Martin Salter, Labour MP for Reading West has today announced his support for the ‘7 out of 10′ campaign for men with prostate cancer.

Speaking from Westminster Mr Salter said:

“I am very pleased to be supporting this campaign, as I feel that significant inequalities remain in awareness, quality of services, patient experience and patient outcomes in the treatment of prostate cancer. It is time that MPs should call on the government to make sure that all NHS trusts are implementing the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines”

“Although prostate cancer is the most common cancer amongst men, 7 out of 10 men who have this disease will not receive appropriate chemotherapy, despite recommendations that all fit patients should be treated this way. The 2008 NICE guidelines on prostate cancer, which were published in February, found that their 2002 recommendations had not been universally carried out and consequently many patients are not receiving the multidisciplinary treatment they require. With 10,000 men per year dying from this devastating disease, better access to prostate cancer treatment cannot wait. ”

In order to show his support for the campaign Mr Salter has signed House of Commons Early Day Motion 1869, 7 out of 10 prostate cancer campaign, which aims to “raise awareness of the variations in treatment of prostate cancer patients”. He has also written to the Head of Clinical Services at Berkshire West Primary Care Trust in Reading West to ensure that the approaches to prostate cancer that were recommended in the NICE Prostate Cancer Guidelines are being implemented in the area.