Online risk checker could help with prostate cancer diagnosis
Prostate cancer often has no symptoms so men shouldn’t wait to see changes before they act.
Prostate Cancer UK and the NHS have joined forces to find more than 14,000 men in the UK who need treatment for prostate cancer but have not come forward for diagnosis.
Seeing how at risk you are can take just 30 seconds with the charity’s online risk checker.
Professor Peter Johnson, national clinical director for cancer for the NHS in England, said: “I urge you to use the Prostate Cancer UK risk checker today – it is a quick and easy way to understand your risk of prostate cancer and how you can take further action if you are at risk.
“The prognosis for the people we’re yet to see will be much better the earlier we see them but we do need to see them as soon as possible.
“It’s important men understand prostate cancer often doesn’t show any symptoms at an early stage, so don’t delay – check your risk now. The simple check could be lifesaving.”
Early detection is key, something which Wayne Roberts from Crawley saw first hand.
When his father Mike was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2014, aware of the family risk Wayne explained his concerns and his GP suggested he have yearly tests to monitor his PSA (prostatespecific antigen) levels.
Wayne said: “In October 2020, I kept needing to use the toilet especially at night but when I got there I wouldn’t be able to go but my bladder would feel like I needed to.
“I went to my doctor and the blood test came back abnormal. So I went for a scan, it showed nothing but they sent me for a MRI which revealed a tumour on my prostate so I went for a biopsy and it came back that I had caught it early and it was treatable.”
With the love and support of his friends and family Wayne decided to have his prostate removed.
Wayne then encouraged his younger brother Andy to see his GP.
Wayne said: “It came back he had a very aggressive form of cancer, and that it had spread to his lymph nodes so he had to have treatment.
“It is so important to get diagnosed early, there is a lot of embarrassment around getting checked but I’d rather have that and be here to spend time with my family then be unsure if I will be here in a year’s time.
“Prostate cancer is treatable if it is caught early.”
As he feels education is key Wayne has been raising money for the charity by taking part in March the Month, where people are being encouraged to walk 11,000 steps a day.
“I’m up to about 213,000 steps now and whenever I go out I always wear my charity top,” explained Wayne. “A man in his 60s came up to me and said he had never been tested
Prostate cancer is treatable if it is caught early.
WAYNE ROBERTS
but now he would.
“If I can get one person off the couch and either do the online risk checker or talk to their doctor it will be worth it.”
Even though urological cancer referral rates in England were back at usual levels by the end of 2021, with overall levels of cancer referrals at record levels since March 2021, the health service and charity are warning that they need more men to come forward to find the 14,000 men across the UK who have not yet started treatment for prostate cancer.
One in eight men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime. Men over 50, black men, or those whose father or brother had the disease are at even greater risk.
Although men shouldn’t wait for symptoms, anyone who does experience symptoms such as problems urinating or needing to pee more often, should speak to their doctor to get checked.
Robin Porter, 76, from Maresfield, East Sussex was diagnosed in 2006.
He went to his doctor when he found he was needing to use the toilet more often, especially at night.
After blood tests showed he had a high level of PSA, he had a biopsy which identified the presence of low-risk prostate cancer. He was offered surgery to remove his prostate, but instead Robin opted for Active Surveillance.
This meant that initially Robin’s PSA was tested every three months with biopsies and MRI scans at longer intervals.
Robin said: “I’m glad I chose Active Surveillance as I didn’t need to have treatment for 13 years thus avoiding potential side effects.”
In July 2020, Robin needed treatment and underwent High-intensity focused ultrasound (HiFu).
He said: “I decided to have HiFu treatment, as it is less invasive and has fewer side effects than the other the options of surgery or radiotherapy.”
“However, HiFu requires subsequent monitoring. In 2021 it showed I needed further treatment and further HiFu was carried out in May 2021.
“Before the second HiFu was carried out I had a specialist scan to check that the cancer had not spread out of my prostate, which would have made HiFi unsuitable. . Thankfully, this was negative.”
The risk factors for prostate cancer are: Age, the older you are the more likely you are to get it. Ethnicity, one in eight men will be diagnosed but this changes to one in four in black men. Family, if your brother or dad had it chances increase by two and a half. If you are overweight you are more likely to have the aggressive form.
Nicola Tallett, director of fundraising and supporter engagement at Prostate Cancer UK said: “Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, but the pandemic has meant thousands of men have not come forward for diagnosis and could be missing out on life-saving treatment.
“Although thousands of men are still being treated each month, if things don’t change soon, the number of men missing out will continue to grow.
“Men have been telling us they haven’t wanted to “bother” their GP during the pandemic –particularly if they don’t have any symptoms, which is the case for most men with early prostate cancer. This means men at higher risk of the disease are not having those vital conversations about their risk that can lead to a diagnosis.
“That’s why we’re working with NHS England to raise awareness and encourage men to take our risk checker to find out more about their risk and what they can do about it.”
More than 11,500 men die from prostate cancer in the UK each year .
Robin said: “Many men with prostate cancer don’t need radical treatment. It is likely that you will die with it rather than from it. But many men are still dying from it and early detection is important.”
For the risk checker, visit prostatecanceruk.org/riskchecker
You can contact Prostate Cancer UK’s specialist nurses in confidence on 0800 074 8383 or online via the Live Chat: www.prostatecanceruk. org. The specialist nurse phone service is free to landlines and open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
It is likely you will die with prostate cancer rather than from it.
ROBIN PORTER