About the Data and Evidence team
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For Health Professionals

Data & Evidence Library for Health Improvement (DELHI)

About the Data and Evidence Team

The Data and Evidence Team

 ‘The Data & Evidence team specializes in building, maintaining, and updating Prostate Cancer UK’s robust evidence base. It is our role to ensure the Charity is up to date and ‘in the know’ with the current biological, epidemiological, and clinical understanding of prostate cancer.

Our projects include designing and leading Real-World Data studies to fulfil evidence gaps in prostate cancer, ensuring the charity is aligned to advancements in prostate cancer research, and analysing public health and demographic data to inform our strategies and interventions. We also collaborate with other teams to translate the data and evidence into actionable measures aimed at improving the lives of men affected by prostate cancer.’ 

Our People

Natalia Norori – Senior Data and Evidence Manager
Areas of expertise include early diagnosis, metastatic prostate cancer, real-world evidence, and scenario modelling.

Abel Tesfai – Senior Data and Evidence Officer
Areas of expertise including early diagnosis, health inequalities, prostate cancer recurrence and rapid reviews

Alexandra Naranjo – Senior Data and Evidence Officer
Specialities include prostate cancer mortality, localised prostate cancer, and active surveillance. 

Yui Hang Wong – Health Data Analyst
Areas of expertise include prostate cancer risk and health services monitoring.

Clinical Data Strategy  

Our clinical data strategy is a cross-directorate project between Health Services, Equity & Improvement and Research. It is designed to generate real-world evidence to address critical knowledge gaps in prostate cancer. It aims to:

  • Improve our understanding of health inequalities in prostate cancer.
  • Provide valuable insights into the characteristics and pre- and post-diagnosis pathways of men who are more likely to experience poor prostate cancer outcomes (such as late-stage diagnosis and prostate cancer-specific mortality).
  • Increase our understanding of the support needs of men now.
  • Identify future research priorities for men in the future.

Our clinical data strategy is organised into five research workstreams focusing on: Risk, Mortality, Diagnostics, and Health Inequalities, and data advocacy.

By understanding the characteristics and pre-diagnosis pathways of the men most likely to experience poorer prostate cancer outcomes, we intend to be better equipped to identify and better target interventions that can reduce diagnoses at this stage of disease.

Prostate cancer statistics

The UK in numbers

  • The most common cancer in men is prostate cancer.
  • More than 50,000 men get diagnosed with prostate cancer every year.
  • More than 12,000 men die from prostate cancer every year.
  • Around 510,000 men are living with or after prostate cancer.
  • 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime.
  • Black men are more likely to get prostate cancer than other men. In the UK, 1 in 4 Black men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime.

Key statistics

(Last updated: December 2024. To be reviewed: September 2025)

  • More than 44,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year in England.
  • More than 4,300 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year in Scotland.
  • More than 2,500 are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year in Wales.
  • More than 1,300 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year in Northern Ireland.
  • More than 10,000 men die from prostate cancer every year in England, that is one man dying from prostate cancer every hour.
  • Around 1,000 men die from prostate cancer every year in Scotland.
  • Around 640 men die from prostate cancer every year in Wales.
  • Around 290 men die every year from prostate cancer in Northern Ireland.
  • More than 440,000 men are living with and after prostate cancer in England.
  • More than 32,700 men are living with and after prostate cancer in Scotland.
  • More than 28,000 men are living with and after prostate cancer in Wales.
  • More than 12,000 men are living with and after prostate cancer in Northern Ireland.
  • 1 in 8 men will get diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime.
    • 1 in 8 White men will get diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime.
    • 1 in 4 Black men will get diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime.
    • 1 in 13 Asian men will get diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime.
  • 1 in 24 White men will die from prostate cancer in their lifetime.
  • 1 in 12 Black men will die from prostate cancer in their lifetime.
  • 1 in 44 Asian men will die from prostate cancer in their lifetime.
  1. Cancer incidence for common cancers [Internet]. Cancer Research UK. 2015 [cited 2024 Dec 12]. Available from: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/incidence/common-cancers-compared
  2. Cancer incidence and mortality. National Disease Registration Service. [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 12]. Available from: https://nhsd-ndrs.shinyapps.io/incidence_and_mortality/
  3. Cancer incidence in Scotland - to December 2022 - Cancer incidence in Scotland - Publications - Public Health Scotland [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 12]. Available from: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancer-incidence-in-scotland/cancer-incidence-in-scotland-to-december-2022/
  4. Cancer Incidence in Wales, 2002-2021. Public Health Wales. [Internet] [cited 2024 Dec 12]. Available from: https://phw.nhs.wales/services-and-teams/welsh-cancer-intelligence-and-surveillance-unit-wcisu/cancer-reporting-tool-official-statistics/cancer-incidence/
  5. Prevalence by cancer type, nation, sex and year [Internet]. Macmillan Cancer Support. [cited 2024 Dec 12]. Available from: https://www.macmillan.org.uk/_images/macmillan-2020-cancer-prevalence-figures-and-methodology_tcm9-356351.pdf
  6. Prostate cancer statistics: 1993-2021. Northern Ireland Cancer Registry [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 12]. Available from: https://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/CancerInformation/official-statistics/BySite/Prostatecancer/
  7. Cancer mortality in Scotland - Annual update to 2021 - Cancer mortality - Publications - Public Health Scotland [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 12]. Available from: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancer-mortality/cancer-mortality-in-scotland-annual-update-to-2021/
  8. Cancer mortality in Wales, 2002-2022. Public Health Wales. [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 12]. Available from: https://phw.nhs.wales/services-and-teams/welsh-cancer-intelligence-and-surveillance-unit-wcisu/cancer-reporting-tool-official-statistics/cancer-mortality/
  9. Lloyd T, Hounsome L, Mehay A, Mee S, Verne J, Cooper A. Lifetime risk of being diagnosed with, or dying from, prostate cancer by major ethnic group in England 2008–2010. BMC Med, 2015 Dec;13(1). [cited 2024 Dec 12]. [Internet]. Available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/13/171
  10. England Cancer Prevalence Statistics, 2021. National Disease Registration Service. [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 12]. Available from: https://nhsd-ndrs.shinyapps.io/prevalence/

Our publications

  • Norori N, Burns-Cox N, Blaney L, Mayor N, Rylance A, Shah TT, Naranjo A, Hobbs MD. Using real world data to bridge the evidence gap left by prostate cancer screening trials. ESMO Real World Data and Digital Oncology. 2024 Dec 1;6:100073.
    Access here

  • Kirby M, Merriel SW, Olajide O, Norman A, Vasdev N, Hanchanale V, et al. Is the digital rectal exam any good as a prostate cancer screening test? Br J Gen Pract. 2024 Mar 1;74(740):137–9.
    Access here

  • Harding TA, Martin RM, Merriel SW, Jones R, O’Sullivan JM, Kirby M, Olajide O, Norman A, Bhatt J, Hulson O, Martins T. Optimising the use of the prostate-specific antigen blood test in asymptomatic men for early prostate cancer detection in primary care: report from a UK clinical consensus. British Journal of General Practice. 2024 Aug 1;74(745):e534-43.
    Access here

  • Norori N, de Biase C, Wong YH, Crabtree SR, Cox M, Appleby E, Seggie A, Brown R, Rylance A. Evaluating whether Prostate Cancer UK’s risk checker is a help or hindrance to prostate-specific antigen testing policy: a mixed-methods study. BJGP Open. 2024 Jun 26.
    Access here

  • Tesfai A, Norori N, Harding TA, Wong YH, Hobbs MD. Variation in harms and benefits of prostate‐specific antigen screening for prostate cancer by socio‐clinical risk factors: A rapid review. BJUI compass. 2024 May;5(5):417-32.
    Access here

  • Tesfai A, Norori N, Harding TA, Wong YH, Hobbs MD. The impact of pre‐biopsy MRI and additional testing on prostate cancer screening outcomes: A rapid review. BJUI compass. 2024 Apr;5(4):426-38.
    Access here

  • Hobbs MD, Norori N, Harding T, Rylance A. Prostate cancer screening: Have we tipped the seesaw? JCO 41, 43–43 (2023).
    Access here

  • Leszczynski R, Norori N, Allen S, Persad R, Page T, Cross W, Craske E, Lovett H, Stalbow K. Remote consultations: experiences of UK patients with prostate cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future Oncology. 2022 Oct;18(33):3713-26.
    Access here

  • Davies C, Castle JT, Stalbow K, Haslam PJ. Prostate mpMRI in the UK: the state of the nation. Clinical Radiology. 2019 Nov 1;74(11):894-e11.
    Access here

  • Lloyd T, Hounsome L, Mehay A, Mee S, Verne J, Cooper A. Lifetime risk of being diagnosed with, or dying from, prostate cancer by major ethnic group in England 2008–2010. BMC Medicine 13, 171 (2015).
    Access here

Our reports

Barriers to Action: the barriers that prevent men from finding their prostate cancer risk

A behavioural research study aimed at understanding the barriers that prevent men from finding their prostate cancer risk.

Read the study

Clinical and research challenges in prostate cancer recurrence

This review aims to detail some key challenges in recurrence, focusing on the advent of novel imaging techniques and the potential utility of real-world datasets.

Read the report

Prostate cancer referrals during and after the pandemic

Evaluation of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of men getting referred and treated for urological/prostate cancer.

Read the evaluation

External Links & Data Sources

Our Data & Evidence team liaises with several organisation & programmes to bring our analysis and research to fruition, including:

The National Prostate Cancer Audit (NPCA): The NPCA releases a report documenting the clinical audit of prostate cancer care in England & Wales.

https://www.npca.org.uk/reports/

Get Data Out: The ‘Get Data Out’ programme from the National Cancer Registration and Analysis service (NCRAS) reports statistics about cancer patients

https://www.cancerdata.nhs.uk/getdataout/prostate

CORE20Plus5: The CORE20Plus5 is an approach by NHS England to reduce healthcare inequalities. One of their focus areas is ‘early cancer diagnosis’ with a goal of having 75% of cancers diagnosed at stage 1 or 2 by 2028.

https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/equality/equality-hub/national-healthcare-inequalities-improvement-programme/core20plus5/

Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT): The GIRFT is an NHS programme aimed to improve care of patients by reviewing services and presenting data & evidence to support change.

https://gettingitrightfirsttime.co.uk/

Office of National Statistics (ONS): The ONS is the UK’s largest producer of official statistics. They produce statistics relating to economy, population, and society.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/

Health Data Research UK: Health Data Research UK is the national institute for health and data science. We are proud to be a host organization for HDRUK's Health Data Science Black Internship Programme, which aims to tackle underrepresentation of Black people within the health data science sector.

https://www.hdruk.ac.uk/