When it comes to health, ignorance is never bliss

One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and yet many still struggle to admit to any niggling health concerns, or go for testing.

It takes something like the announcement made by Sir Chris Hoy, himself dealing with incurable Stage 4 prostate cancer, to shift the balance and encourage men to get tested for the disease that takes more than 10,000 lives a year in this country.
A simple blood test can provide reassurance, or, if necessary, ensure that treatment is swift.

Northampton Prostate Cancer Support Group (NPCSG) held its most recent PSA testing event in November, welcoming 300 men aged 40 and over through the doors for testing.

As a result, nine men received results that warranted further investigation.

NPCSG will hold another session towards the end of 2025, but the message is simple; if you have concerns, get checked with your doctor right away.

“If you are worried, go and get the test through your GP,” urged Richard Truby, who is chairman of the support group.

And Richard knows just how important testing is – he was diagnosed with the disease nine years ago, and is monitored regularly for changes.
“There is a whole list of possible symptoms to look out for, but it’s also worth remembering that prostate cancer sometimes presents no symptoms,” he said.

Diagnosis is traumatic, as he remembers well: “When I was told I had it, I found the support group to be a great help. You feel so alone and much of the disease is with the mind – you instantly go to worse case scenarios and feel that you are all alone to process things.

“Doctors and nurses are great, but to speak with fellow men who are going through the same treatments, procedures and who are dealing with the same feelings is a revelation. It helps enormously.

“I get on with life in a normal fashion, although as chairman of the group I can never leave it behind completely – but that is my choice, and I find it very rewarding.

“I am not letting it affect me one way or the other. You can’t forget that you have it, but it need not define you,” Richard said.

For more information visit tacklegroups.org.uk/site-20

David’s story…

When David visited his GP to find the cause of a persistent cough, he did so at the insistence of his wife.
“My GP was very thorough and one of the things he did was a PSA test, which came back ok, but he then did a physical, a digital rectal examination, and that suggested further investigation,” David said.

A urology visit was followed by a biopsy, and then an MRI scan was carried out. “These days those are done in reverse – doing the less invasive procedure first.”

David’s MRI scan confirmed the news that he did have prostate cancer.

“There was no family history. I’m one of these cases where it just seems to happen,” he said. The news was devastating.
“It didn’t feel good, I can tell you, because you hear the word cancer and think, ‘this time next year I will probably be dead’. It’s that sort of feeling,” he says reflecting on that day 12 years ago.

He had a few more tests before treatment options were discussed, and at that stage David passed on radiotherapy in favour of surgery.
“The surgery is to remove the prostate and if it is contained within the gland, and they remove it successfully, it may well be that you are cured of the disease.”

The operation went well, and yet David’s PSA level was continuing to rise.

“It was rising from a very low level but it was doubling every three months. In a further blow, news was given that David’s cancer had escaped and spread to the bones.

“You are partially expecting it, because whether you are an optimist or a pessimist the reality is this could well be the situation,” he admits, “But to say you are feeling deflated again, would probably understate it.”

Sharing the health update with his children who were in their 20s at the time, was a difficulty.
“That was rather hard and I tried to tell them rather casually, but they took it rather more seriously. They were quite upset by it.”
David’s cancer journey then involved radiotherapy the following year, and a course of chemotherapy a couple of years after that, described by medics as ‘a mopping up exercise.’

David’s story makes for tough reading, but also for positive reading – he has been living with the disease for 12 years, receiving hormone therapy to keep things in check.

“It is designed to deprive the cancer of the things it needs to thrive – it needs testosterone, but the hormone therapy takes that away, and on that basis it is designed to stop the cancer getting worse.”

Some men will receive a course of hormones for a year or two, but David will continue on that treatment, in the form of a stomach implant, for life.

“It does keep you feeling fairly well. They say it will make you feel tired, and it does. The therapy turns me into a bit of an old woman – most of my friends say they don’t notice the difference!” he laughed. “Hot flushes are one of the main symptoms, which isn’t a problem in the scheme of things.”

While dealing with the disease himself, he was also part responsible for setting up the Prostate Cancer support group in his area. The invitation to launch a support group came from the hospital itself, and it has now been helping those diagnosed for the past decade.
“Men are reluctant to talk, but if there is no-one to talk to it becomes impossible,” David says, explaining the importance of the group.
“It ensures that if people want advice, information and support that there is a local group they can turn to.

“You have the national charities like PCUK, Tackle and Macmillan and they are fantastic, but the best they can probably do is have a conversation with someone over the phone. That’s wonderful, but it’s not the same as being in the same room with someone and just talking, which is what we do every month or so.

“As well as organising regular PSA Test events, the group is an opportunity to share, listen to and just be with people that are in the same situation. People who understand.”

At 74-years-old, David enjoys an active life that probably rivals people half his age: “One of the professors at the cancer centre has the view that you should ‘get out there and enjoy your life,’ and that’s my view, really.”

But had his wife not ‘dragged’ him to the GP for that first visit, it could all have been so very different.

“Then I would be in the Chris Hoy situation,” he reflected, parting with some easy advice for those debating whether or not to make that appointment to see their GP.

“Just do it,” is his simple encouragement.

The Facts…

What is the prostate gland?
It is usually the shape and size of a walnut and is situated just below the bladder.
It surrounds the urethra and its main function is to make some of the semen that carries sperm.

The PSA test. What is it?
It’s a blood test that measures the amount of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in your blood. PSA is a protein produced by normal cells in the prostate and also by prostate cancer cells. It’s normal to have a small amount of PSA in your blood, and the amount rises slightly as you get older and your prostate gets bigger. A raised PSA level may suggest you have a problem with your prostate – but not necessarily cancer.

The figures:
• Prostate Cancer is the most common cancer affecting the UK male population
• One in eight men will be diagnosed with it
• Annually, more than 40,000 men in the UK are diagnosed
• Around 10,500 men die of it.
• Black men have a three times higher risk of getting prostate cancer.