6 days ago
‘Don't be fobbed off': Readers back Telegraph campaign for prostate cancer screening
Michael, David, Paul – the names of just three of our readers who have had to take matters into their own hands when it comes to prostate cancer tests.
In the hundreds of replies The Telegraph has received in response to our campaign, there are countless stories where men have had to insist on PSA tests when GPs dismissed their concerns.
Prostate cancer kills 12,000 men in this country every year, with one in eight prostate cancer cases being caught at stage 4, when the disease is incurable.
If the PSA test were proactively offered to men as part of a targeted screening programme, lives would be saved because more cases would be caught at an earlier stage, when treatment is more successful.
That is why The Telegraph is campaigning for a targeted national screening programme for prostate cancer, focused on men who are at the greatest risk of developing the disease.
This includes men over 50, black men (whose risk is twice that of white men) and those with a family history of prostate cancer.
Following the launch of the campaign, readers who have had prostate cancer in the past or are currently undergoing treatment have shared their stories in the hope it will bring about change for others.
'It's my right to have a test'
Paul Harvey, 75, believes he would be dead now if he had not insisted on knowing what his PSA levels were.
'My father died with prostate cancer, so I knew I was a higher risk,' he shares.
Mr Harvey, who works part-time for the North Yorkshire Police, asked his GP for a PSA test but was told the test wasn't very accurate and not to bother.
'I insisted. I told her it was my right to have a test, and two weeks later she made me a fast-track referral,' he explains.
Mr Harvey was soon diagnosed with a PSA of 10.2 and a Gleason score of 3+4. Gleason is a system used to grade prostate cancer based on the appearance of cancer cells.
'At this point, I joined a local support group and found the Macmillan nurse very helpful in bringing my fears down in size,' he shares.
The NHS 'stepped up speed', and Mr Harvey had a robotic prostatectomy followed by radiation therapy a few years later. 'Yes, there are still side effects, but at least I am alive to experience them.'
'I am a strong advocate of testing, and am witheringly blunt with men who say ' I do not want to know what my PSA is,'' Mr Harvey states.
'I was told a PSA test was not needed'
Telegraph reader David, 67, an aircraft engineer, received PSA tests in the past with all low numbers, but had cause for concern when he experienced urethral bleeds on two occasions, six months apart.
His bladder was medically examined with a camera, but he was told he was all clear.
'Each time I questioned my PSA levels, but was told a PSA test was not needed,' he says.
He then went to a different GP with a separate issue, who asked, with all the intervention, why he had not requested a PSA test. 'I pointed out I had, on numerous occasions, but was refused.'
The GP sent him for a PSA test the next day, and found he had hugely increased numbers. A CT scan followed, revealing he had stage 3 prostate cancer.
He is currently undergoing treatment at Weston Park Hospital in Sheffield.
'The answer is not to be fobbed off'
Michael Evans had annual PSA checks for ten years until 2005, when he noticed the level had risen from 2.2 to 3.4 in one year.
Although the level was still low, he admits, he was concerned about the rapid rate of increase, which he knew to be an indicator of cancer.
But his doctor dismissed his concerns and later told him that a PSA level of four was the lowest for an NHS referral at the time.
So Mr Evans insisted on a private referral, and as a result he was diagnosed with prostate cancer within a week.
Two weeks later, he had the gland removed, although he had been offered alternative therapies. The cancer had not spread, and his PSA level has remained undetectable for 20 years.
The reader says the PSA test 'is not clear proof and, of course, a high score can also indicate benign conditions. But it's a start, and warrants further investigation.
'Prostate cancer is eminently curable if you catch it early, as I did. The answer is not to be fobbed off and insist on investigation, especially since MRI scans are now safer than the biopsy, which was all that was available in 2005.'
'Astonished'
Geraldine Davies's late husband, Ivor Gunton, took part in Bristol University's ProtecT study around the age of 60, close to the time he was winding down his gardening business. He was tested every year and saw a consultant after receiving a PSA of four.
The study results provided strong evidence there was a small increased risk of progression and cancer spread from active monitoring, compared to risks of harms to sexual, urinary and bowel function caused by radical treatments.
Upon finding a small tumour, the study looked into which treatments were most successful. Mr Gunton had regular monitoring, and after ten years, the tumour had not grown.
'I am astonished that the results of this comprehensive study are not directing action to prevent so many men from dying of this disease. Why have its findings been ignored?'
Mr Gunton died of bowel cancer in 2022, but it was in no way related to the prostate cancer, Ms Davies shares.
'My only symptom was backache'
Paul Beal was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer four years ago – his only symptom was a backache. 'Thankfully, my doctor picked it up at a routine asthma test visit after asking about my general health.'
'The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn were fantastic, and I can't praise the Macmillan Centre enough,' Mr Beal says.
However, 'the strangest and best thing that came out of the whole thing is that my friend Brian Hallard had the same diagnosis as me, and we went through the whole treatment as a team.'
'We are pleased to tell you that we are both fine and in remission, both with very low PSAs,' Mr Beal adds.
The friends are both invited back to the Macmillan Centre every two months or so, to meet with other men with prostate cancer.
'And I have to say what a great bunch of men, and it's good to talk,' Mr Beal shares.
The pair also promote getting the PSA test through their separate businesses – World Of Fun, a joke shop, and the Princess Theatre, both in Hunstanton. 'We are very open about getting the message out.'
