Surrey man highlights importance of regular prostate cancer checks
There are over 12,000 prostate cancer deaths in the UK alone.
A man from Surrey is highlighting the importance of routine check-ups for prostate cancer, following his father's "tragic" death.
It’s as Prostate Cancer UK announce details of a new screening trial, which aims to double the number of lives saved every year.
John Rebholz’ dad Jurg died from advanced prostate cancer in 2016.
Despite experiencing symptoms for years and having a family history of the disease, it was said he struggled to get a diagnosis until it was too late.
John said: “My dad was in his 70s when he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. By that stage it was far too late. My dad's story, I feel personally, is very tragic because there could have been a very different ending to that story.
“There's a strong familial connection with prostate cancer. Sadly, he Jurg watched his dad die of the disease.
“My dad had, what I call, red flag symptoms many years before he was actually diagnosed. We found out that many years before, he had expressed concerns to his GP about the family link, but it was dismissed.”
John, from Camberley, thinks fear and stigma is preventing a lot of men from going to the doctors.
He explained: “Men's awareness of their own health issues is pretty rubbish if I'm being honest. That headstrong attitude, especially from my dad’s era, to just put a plaster over it and carry on. But the more you leave it, especially if it's a very serious illness like cancer, the less they can do about it. My dad didn't go when he should have done. All men should just wake up to the idea to just go and get regular health checks.”
Prostate cancer is currently the most common cancer in the UK without a screening programme, instead relying on men coming forward to their GP to request a test.
The charity Prostate Cancer UK is raising awareness of TRANSFORM, the new trial that will test multiple methods of screening, and compare these against how men are tested now, to find the safest, most accurate way to screen men.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, and one in eight men in the UK will get prostate cancer.
On average more than 52,000 men are diagnosed every year, that’s 143 men every day.
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