The type of cancer the King may have and how it might be treated

THE King has not revealed the type of cancer with which he has been diagnosed, but it was discovered after he received treatment for a benign prostate enlargement.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said that it was during this corrective surgery that “a separate issue of concern was noted and subsequently diagnosed as a form of cancer”.

The risk of developing cancer increases with age and more people receive a diagnosis during their 70s than in any other decade. Prostate cancer is the most common kind in men aged 75 and over, accounting for 25 per cent of cases a year, but the Palace confirmed that the monarch, who turned 75 last November, did not have the condition.

Lung cancer is the second most common, accounting for 16 per cent of cancers in those aged 75 and older. While smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, King Charles has not smoked since he tried cigarettes as a schoolboy.

Bowel cancer is the third most common form of the disease, accounting for 14 per cent of cancers in men who are 75 years old and older. Symptoms include blood in the bowel or stools. Bladder cancer is the fourth most common and makes up 6 per cent of cancers in men of the King’s age. Symptoms are similar to that of an enlarged prostate, or prostate cancer, which includes a frequent need to urinate, a burning sensation and blood in the urine.

The reason the symptoms are similar is because an enlarged prostate pushes on the bladder and the tube taking the urine from the bladder to leave the body. The monarch had been praised for sharing his diagnosis of an enlarged prostate in the hope that other men would get tested themselves and when announcing the King’s cancer diagnosis yesterday, a Buckingham Palace spokesman stated that similarly, the monarch hoped the announcement may “assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer”.

The Palace said the King would be receiving regular outpatient day treatment, which suggests he will be undergoing chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, or a combination.

While chemotherapy is delivered via the blood and works by stopping the cancer cells from growing, splitting and spreading, radiotherapy is targeted at the specific tumour site with the aim of killing the cancerous cells. But it can also damage surrounding healthy cells.

Immunotherapies alert the immune system to the presence of the cancer, which otherwise goes undetected, and stimulate the body’s defences to attack and destroy the cancer. It is also possible some form of day-case surgery could be performed depending on the location of the cancer, which may help to prevent its spread. The type of treatment varies heavily depending on the type of a particular cancer and at what stage it has been diagnosed.

Bladder cancer, for example, in its most treatable form could involve a transurethral resection of a bladder tumour, which involves cutting the tumour off the bladder while under general anaesthetic, followed by a dose of chemotherapy.

This could extend to several rounds of chemotherapy, or the use of radiotherapy and even the removal of the entire bladder in the most serious cases. However, the treatment plan the Palace has described suggests this is unlikely.

Bowel cancer can affect the colon and rectal areas, and in both instances surgery to remove the part of the organ with the disease is most common, unless it has spread. Patients with bowel cancer of the colon then receive chemotherapy, or a combination of chemo and radiotherapy if the disease is rectal.

Non-small-cell lung cancer is usually treated with surgery, removing the cancerous cells. Further surgeries can be offered to remove larger parts of the lung if it has spread. If surgery is not possible then targeted radiotherapy will be offered. An increasing number of immunotherapy drugs are being approved for this form of lung cancer.

The more aggressive small-cell lung cancer has usually spread to other parts of the body, making it untreatable. Chemotherapy is usually offered to extend life.

Survival rates vary by cancer. As with all cancers, the earlier it is caught and treatment begun, the higher the rate of survival.