Strengthening Prostate Cancer Screening in Latvia

Within the EU4Health Joint Action project EUCanScreen, PSKUS continues to contribute to the development of evidence-based and risk-adapted prostate cancer screening approaches in Latvia. As part of Work Package 8 “Promotion of New Screening Approaches”, PSKUS experts actively participate in international collaboration activities focused on prostate cancer screening implementation and knowledge exchange across Europe.

Key Milestones Achieved

During 2025–2026, several important activities and milestones were achieved:

• Regular collaboration meetings were held with the Ministry of Health, National Health Service (NHS), and the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDPC);
• National discussions were initiated on transitioning from the current opportunistic age-adapted screening approach towards a risk-adapted prostate cancer screening model in Latvia;
• Comparative analysis of European prostate cancer screening models was performed to identify approaches most suitable for the Latvian healthcare system;
• Preparatory work for establishing a multidisciplinary national working group on prostate cancer screening was initiated;
• Discussions were launched regarding potential pilot implementation scenarios for risk-adapted prostate cancer screening in Latvia.

International Collaboration and Scientific Exchange

PSKUS experts Prof. Egils Vjaters and Dr. Pēteris Bierands actively participated in multiple international scientific and professional activities, including: EUCanScreen Consortium Meetings and Task 8.3 meetings, European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress, International webinars on prostate cancer risk stratification, PRAISE-U plus collaboration meetings and expert consultations.

These activities strengthened cooperation with European experts and supported exchange of best practices related to risk stratification methodologies.

Looking Ahead

In 2026, PSKUS will continue cooperation with national stakeholders and international experts to evaluate practical implementation possibilities for risk-adapted prostate cancer screening in Latvia.

Current priorities include evaluation of pilot project scenarios, strengthening collaboration with CDPC, NHS, and international screening experts.

The activities carried out within EUCanScreen contribute to strengthening Latvia’s preparedness for future improvements in cancer screening and support the objectives of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.

Authors

Prof. Egils Vjaters, Dr. Pēteris Bierands, Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital (PSKUS)