Early Prostate Cancer Screening with Prostate Cancer UK

When Sir Chris Hoy, the six-time Olympic cycling champion, publicly revealed his diagnosis of late-stage prostate cancer, it cast a stark light on a pervasive challenge in men's health: prostate cancer often develops without symptoms until it reaches an advanced stage. In the UK, 1 in 8 men will be affected by this disease — and yet too many remain undiagnosed until it is too late.

The challenge: reaching men before it's too late

The greatest hurdle in prostate cancer care is not medical — it's logistical. Identifying and engaging at-risk individuals, particularly men from higher-risk groups, is complex and resource-intensive. Traditional outreach methods struggle to scale, and many communities remain underserved.

The solution: automated recall at scale

Prostate Cancer UK partnered with Hippo Labs to address this directly. The goal was straightforward but ambitious: find and invite eligible men for PSA blood testing in a fast, targeted, and low-burden way.

Hippo Recaller — Hippo's intelligent patient engagement platform — was configured to identify men in higher-risk cohorts who had not yet undergone prostate screening, and automatically send personalised recall messages at scale.

The pilot

The pilot launched in May 2024 at a single GP practice. Around 700 tailored messages were sent via Hippo Recaller over the course of a few weeks, inviting men to book a PSA blood test. Messages were drip-fed daily — a deliberate strategy to avoid overwhelming clinical teams while maintaining momentum.

Despite the programme being cut short due to the Synlab cyber attack, the results were significant:

• 71 men responded and got tested

• 7 new cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed

• The practice's prostate cancer detection rate tripled — without placing additional strain on staff or infrastructure

The broader context

Advances in imaging technology, including MRI-led diagnostics, have significantly reduced the risks and costs associated with false positives. The bottleneck now lies in awareness and action — encouraging more men to engage with safer, more accurate tools.

Hippo Recaller bridges that final mile: systematically and sustainably reaching those who might otherwise slip through the cracks.

What's next

While the pilot was paused due to external events, its early success demonstrates the potential of combining clinical insight with digital precision. Hippo Labs is actively exploring further deployments with national partners to scale this impact across the UK.

"No man should receive a diagnosis as late as Sir Chris. With the right tools and outreach, we can change the story of prostate cancer — one message at a time."