Cyprus’s Health Ministry is expected to introduce an official national screening programme for prostate cancer in 2027, oncologist Dimitrios Vomvas told Phileleftheros, sending men reminders to be tested in the same way women are called for mammograms.
Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among men in Cyprus. According to the Cyprus Cancer Registry, an average of 726 new cases a year were recorded between 2021 and 2023, and in 2024 it was the second most common cause of cancer death among men on the island.
Vomvas, a radiation oncologist at the Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre and vice-president of the Cyprus Oncology Society, said an algorithm developed with the Cyprus Urological Association would guide GPs and urologists under the programme, with notifications going to men after a certain age.
Since the GHS was introduced in 2019, easy access to GPs has allowed men to have PSA tests alongside their general blood tests. This has led to an informal kind of screening in recent years, increasing early diagnoses.
If the disease is caught early, Vomvas said, the radical treatments available in Cyprus are very effective and “someone can be fully cured”.
Who should be tested
Most men diagnosed with prostate cancer have no symptoms at all, Vomvas said. The disease causes symptoms mainly once it has advanced and spread to other organs, and the average age at diagnosis is 65 to 66.
Men of that age often have urinary problems caused by an enlarged prostate, which leads to the mistaken impression that these are signs of cancer, he said. In fact, the cancer must be fairly advanced to cause such blockages, although the two conditions can coexist. In the few cases in Cyprus diagnosed at the metastatic stage, symptoms depend on where the cancer has spread. Bone metastases, for example, cause persistent pain that does not ease, which sends patients to a doctor.
Screening aims to find the cancer before symptoms appear, when it is usually confined to the organ and has not spread. It is done with a simple blood test, the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test.
Under international guidelines, men with no family history should start testing at 50, and those with a first or second-degree relative with the disease, such as a father or brother, at 45. The test is generally recommended once a year, following a European Association of Urology algorithm that sets the frequency according to a man’s age and results.
Diagnosis and treatment
If PSA levels are above the reference limits, a urologist carries out a digital examination of the prostate and a multiparametric MRI scan usually follows. If suspicious lesions are found, a biopsy is recommended. Where cancer is confirmed, staging tests such as a CT scan, bone scan or PSMA PET scan are usually done to establish whether it has spread.
Cases are then discussed by multidisciplinary oncology boards, which take into account age, physical condition, other health problems, PSA level and the aggressiveness of the tumour.
For localised cancer, the options can be monitoring, in which no active treatment is given but the cancer is closely watched and radical treatment begins if there are signs of progression, Vomvas said.
Radical treatment is either surgery, by robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy, or radiotherapy, in which special machines deliver a very high, targeted dose of radiation to the whole prostate area to kill the cancer cells. Either way, a follow-up programme with an oncologist and urologist follows, with regular blood tests and further imaging if needed.
Treatment may cause urinary incontinence, mainly after surgery, and erectile dysfunction, after either surgery or radiotherapy, but there are now ways of managing and improving these side effects, Vomvas said.
Prevention
Screening is the first and most important form of prevention, Vomvas said, followed by specific changes in lifestyle.
He recommended exercise three to four times a week for at least 45 minutes each time, which he said reduces the occurrence of the disease, and keeping to a healthy weight, as obesity is linked to various forms of cancer.
A Mediterranean diet low in saturated fat is beneficial, he said, and foods plentiful in Cyprus and the Mediterranean, such as mackerel, sardines, broccoli, cauliflower and tomatoes, are considered very good for prostate health.
Blue November
This year’s ‘Blue November’ campaign covers schools, army camps, businesses, municipalities and communities, and more than 40 ‘Shave It’ events are planned across Cyprus, Stelios Kyriakou, press officer and board member of Europa Uomo Cyprus, told Phileleftheros.
A three-day Pancyprian Blue Cycle Ride will take place on 13, 14 and 15 November, with 30 cyclists passing through towns and communities. This year’s ride is dedicated to the memory of Popi Christoforou.
The campaign’s main mass event, the 2nd Blue Walk, took place in Nicosia on Sunday. The two-kilometre route began and ended at the Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre, with free PSA tests offered. “We walk for every father, every partner, every brother, every friend,” the event’s message said.
The real success of the campaigns is measured not only by the number of participants but by how many people they prompt to look after their health, Kyriakou said. The aim is to reach the point where “no man will hesitate to talk about his health” and no patient feels alone in facing the disease, he said.
