Prostate cancer will soon become the most common cancer in the UK, figures have shown.

Research shows more than one million men will be diagnosed with the disease within the next 15 years, according to current trends.

The disease is expected to overtake breast cancer as the most commonly diagnosed in the UK, according to research by One Cancer Voice – a coalition of 60 cancer charities. It already has the highest diagnosis rates in England.

The Telegraph is campaigning for the introduction of targeted screening for prostate cancer so those most at risk, such as black men and those with a family history of disease, are offered PSA tests.

It is the only major cancer without such checks.

The research forecasts prostate cancer cases will rise by almost one-third by 2040. The extra 1.05 million cases is the largest increase among all cancers.

Cases of skin cancer are expected to increase by one-fifth, while cases of breast and bowel cancer will rise by 11 per cent.

Overall, the figures suggest more than six million new cases of cancer could be diagnosed in England between now and 2040.

This is the equivalent of a person being diagnosed with the disease every two minutes, analysis suggests, up from every four minutes in the 1970s.