Brian Nolan, 70, reveals he is given the all-clear amid his prostate cancer battle as his sister Coleen pays tribute - months after their sibling Linda's death from the disease
Brian, 70, was diagnosed with stage two prostate cancer just three days after his sister Linda Nolan died on January 15, 2025, following a 20-year breast cancer battle.
He became the fifth of the Nolan siblings to battle the disease, and he shared during an appearance on Loose Women that he was given the all-clear in a positive update.
Brian underwent surgery for the cancer, which involved doctors removing his prostate gland, and he gave fans his health update during a live TV appearance on Tuesday.
'There have been developments. I'll start at the beginning. So I had the operation, it's called a RALP, which means it's a robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy,' he explained.
'To make a long story short, my cancer was in the prostate gland, so they offered me a radical operation, which drew the whole cancer out.
'I was basically in the hospital for 18 hours and I got the all clear last Tuesday that the cancer is completely gone and my bloods are back to normal.'
His sister Coleen, 60, appeared on the Loose Women panel alongside him as he shared the news and she has now praised his strength for speaking on live TV about his health.
'I'm so proud of him, because, since being diagnosed, he's done so much to raise awareness of the condition,' she wrote in her Mirror column.
'Brian, I'm in awe of you and so impressed that you can go on live telly and talk so calmly and eloquently about this important subject.'
Brian initially went to his doctor after noticing he was needing to use the toilet a lot more, which started affecting his sleep and day-to-day life.
After blood tests he was told his PSA levels had risen, and he was then sent for an MRI scan before being told that they had found something.
Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, measured in nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL), are a blood test used to screen for prostate cancer, with higher levels potentially indicating prostate problems, though not necessarily cancer.
Brian initially kept his diagnosis a secret from his sisters because they were grieving the loss of their sibling Linda.
Bernie Nolan, the second youngest of the family and lead vocalist in the Nolans group, died in 2013 at just 52 years old after battling breast cancer (pictured with Coleen in 2011)
Amid his own struggles, he spent 28 hours sitting by Linda's bedside in her final days.
Appearing on Loose Women in March, Coleen shared: 'He went through all of this, none of us knew, at the same time organising everything for Linda.
'Brian and Annie took control of the whole thing. At not one moment did I think something was up with Brian.'
While Brian added: 'It was a conscious decision, we'd been through too much with Linda and Bernadette.
'We've been through so much with cancer. I left it three or four days and I told you [his siblings] all individually.'
Brian described his diagnosis as 'like being hit by a train' and said he thought the worst when he was first diagnosed.
'I just want cancer to leave us alone,' Brian heartbreakingly told The Mirror.
'You start plunging into the abyss of: ''I'm going to die''.'
Brian's sisters have a history of cancer, with Coleen and Anne both receiving diagnoses as well as Bernie and Linda passing away from the disease.
Bernie Nolan, the second youngest of the family and lead vocalist in the Nolans group, tragically died in 2013 at just 52 years old after battling breast cancer.
Linda was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in 2005 before getting the all-clear in 2006 - but in 2017 she was diagnosed with a form of incurable secondary cancer in her hip, which spread to her liver in 2020.
Three years later, she shared the news that the cancer had spread to her brain, with two tumours discovered on the left side of her brain which left her struggling with her speech and balance.
Linda tragically passed away on January 15, 2025, aged 65 following a 20-year breast cancer battle and suffering from double pneumonia.
Anne, 74, was also diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000 and Coleen was told she had skin cancer in 2023.
WHAT IS PROSTATE CANCER?
How many people does it kill?
More than 11,800 men a year - or one every 45 minutes - are killed by the disease in Britain, compared with about 11,400 women dying of breast cancer.
It means prostate cancer is behind only lung and bowel in terms of how many people it kills in Britain.
In the US, the disease kills 26,000 men each year.
Despite this, it receives less than half the research funding of breast cancer and treatments for the disease are trailing at least a decade behind.
How many men are diagnosed annually?
Every year, upwards of 52,300 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK - more than 140 every day.
How quickly does it develop?
Prostate cancer usually develops slowly, so there may be no signs someone has it for many years, according to the NHS.
If the cancer is at an early stage and not causing symptoms, a policy of 'watchful waiting' or 'active surveillance' may be adopted.
Some patients can be cured if the disease is treated in the early stages.
But if it is diagnosed at a later stage, when it has spread, then it becomes terminal and treatment revolves around relieving symptoms.
Thousands of men are put off seeking a diagnosis because of the known side effects from treatment, including erectile dysfunction.
Tests and treatment
Tests for prostate cancer are haphazard, with accurate tools only just beginning to emerge.
There is no national prostate screening programme as for years the tests have been too inaccurate.
Doctors struggle to distinguish between aggressive and less serious tumours, making it hard to decide on treatment.
Men over 50 are eligible for a 'PSA' blood test which gives doctors a rough idea of whether a patient is at risk.
But it is unreliable. Patients who get a positive result are usually given a biopsy which is also not fool-proof.
Scientists are unsure as to what causes prostate cancer, but age, obesity and a lack of exercise are known risks.
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