Kevin Buschhold, patient advocate, Prostate Cancer UK, aims to raise awareness for men who may be oblivious to the risk of prostate cancer.
Every year 12,500 men die from prostate cancer. Yet, if detected early, the outcome could be very different, with a good chance of getting treatment and surviving this silent killer. Prostate cancer is likely to affect one in eight men in their lifetime and one in four men if you are from a higher risk group (e.g. father or brother) having previously had prostate cancer and especially so if you are a black man.
Here’s what you need to do to catch it early:
Men aged 45 and over who are deemed at higher risk should seek a Prostate Screening Antigen (PSA) blood test. This test enables you to know your PSA number. The test should be repeated annually to allow you to track if there has been any change. Should your PSA reading be elevated, it is appropriate for your healthcare professional to refer you to an oncologist/urologist to initially arrange for an MRI scan.
Once the scan results are known, and if a tumour is detected, a biopsy is needed to determine what type of tumour you have. Men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer often have small, slow growing tumours and are often placed into active surveillance where the PSA and scans are repeated semi-annually. If tumours are larger and or aggressive (fast growing), further treatment options will be necessary.
Through each patient journey there will be lots of questions to ask and information to digest. Hearing the words that you have cancer will be a tough message to receive. Do not hesitate to ask for help, to get advice on telling your spouse, parents and or children. Once they know they will be able to help you. Talking it through with specially trained nurses, such as the teams at MacMillan or Prostate Cancer UK, would be very helpful as they will answer questions you haven’t even thought of.
The most important message is to not delay and get a PSA blood test organised. Only by being proactive and knowing your PSA number do you give yourself the best chance of any early detection and better outcomes. Unfortunately there are too many men who don’t take their health seriously, often putting off routine blood tests or incorrectly assuming that the prostate check still requires a physical anal examination. As there are often no symptoms men will often be inclined to do nothing and assume everything is OK. That is not very sensible and the number of men who unfortunately left it too late bitterly regret their own stupidity and macho behaviour when all it takes is a simple blood test to help detect it.
As we enter Movember, please take the opportunity to get yourself or the men in your family booked for a simple PSA blood test. It could save a life.
Kevin Buschhold is a prostate cancer survivor. Before his retirement in 2023, Buschhold was a pillar of the securities industry in the UK, having worked at Deutsche Bank and HSBC, as well as Daiwa and NatWest. He is a tireless campaigner for better awareness of the threats of prostate cancer.