Anybody reading Sir Chris Hoy’s interview in the Times recently in which he revealed his terminal cancer diagnosis cannot fail to have been moved.
Faced with his own mortality, Sir Chris shows his Herculean determination to live life to the full, even though he must now do so against a ticking clock. Most of us would have crumpled in a heap.
We are repeatedly told that 1 in 2 of us will get cancer, yet somehow it’s more shocking when we hear that cancer has bettered the seemingly invincible. Sir Chris is an Olympic superstar. One of the UK’s most decorated athletes. Seemingly a good and nice man all round.
I was recently sent some information about prostate cancer survival rates in Hampshire from one of the many charities pushing for better routine screening for the under 50s.
Prostate Cancer Research (PCR) conducted an audit last year, which showed that 263 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer within the area covered by the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust. If caught early (stages 1-3), prostate cancer has five-year survival rates close to 100%. If caught late (stage 4 metastatic disease), the five-year survival rates drop to 50%.
The audit data indicated that around 15% of men in Hampshire diagnosed with prostate cancer presented with stage 4 metastatic disease at first diagnosis. That’s around 40 men a year being diagnosed late, and potentially dying early. Sadly, the picture nationally shows that this proportion is on the rise.
In the UK around 150 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every day, which equates to 55,100 new cases every year. It is sadly the most common cause of cancer death among men.
PCR have long been calling for a national screening programme to be introduced to target those at high risk of developing the disease. At the moment the onus is on an individual to request what’s known as a ‘PSA’ test. This relies on men understanding both the risk of prostate cancer as they get older and the availability of the test (which they can request from their GP).
Global charities such as Movember, who I met with recently at party conference, are helping to throw the spotlight on men’s health and get more people talking and thinking about the big issues affecting men: mental health and suicide prevention, testicular cancer and prostate cancer. And locally too, the Alton Lions, with the help of the Prostate Cancer Support Organisation, have held PSA testing events in the community in recent years. Earlier this month the Petersfield Lions held a similar testing event at The Petersfield School.
But as ever with public health, the levels of understanding differ across the country, with areas of high deprivation tending to be the least informed and thus more likely to be diagnosed once the disease has already taken hold.
So better screening and education is what’s required if more men are to get an earlier diagnosis and survive the disease. Extra MRI scanning machinery too would also help identify those presenting with the disease at an early stage following a positive PSA test.
Mandatory screening for those in the high risk category would include people like Sir Chris who has a history of prostate cancer in his family. Unfortunately, his test came too late.
Amidst the sadness of Sir Chris’ story, is the positive news that requests for PSA tests have increased seven fold since the Times article was published. PCR has recently launched the ‘Proactive for your Prostate’ campaign to put prostate cancer screening on the political agenda.
I think it’s safe to say that the politicians are already listening.
And I think they have Sir Chris to thank for that.
