David Cameron says he had prostate most cancers and ‘you hope for the very best’
David Cameron was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The former Prime Minister said that he found out after his wife Samantha urged him to have tests.
Cameron said that he wanted to “add his name” to the long list of people calling for a targeted screening programme for the disease.
In an interview with the Times, Cameron said he went and had a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, which looks for proteins associated with prostate cancer that came out worryingly high.
He said: “You always hope for the best.
“You have an MRI scan with a few black marks on it. You think, ‘Ah, that’s probably OK.’ But when the biopsy comes back, and it says you have got prostate cancer?
“You always dread hearing those words. And then literally as they’re coming out of the doctor’s mouth you’re thinking, ‘Oh, no, he’s going to say it. He’s going to say it. Oh God, he said it.’”
The politician wanted to “add his name” to the growing list of people for a targeted screening program, he said.
A prostate cancer screening program is a system of tests and procedures to find signs of prostate cancer in people who have no symptoms.
It primarily involves a blood test for prostate-specific antigen (PSA), which can indicate a problem with the prostate, though not necessarily cancer.
Follow-up tests like MRI scans and biopsies are used to confirm a diagnosis if initial screening results are abnormal. The goal is to detect early-stage cancer, but screening programs also face debate over the potential harm of over-diagnosis and unnecessary treatment.
After pushing to further prostate cancer screening to men who are most at risk, Cameron affirmed that science had made advances.
New tech has transformed the maths on early testing, Cameron told the Times. He consequently highlighted that a national programme was urgent.
The former PM is now reportedly convinced that it wont be long before routine screening could be rolled out to all older men.
According to the NHS, men can start discussing prostate cancer screening with their doctor at age 50. The screening age is lowered to 45 for Black men and those with a family history of prostate or breast cancer, due to a higher risk.
For the moment, the disease affects up to one in eight men but often shows no early symptoms and lacks a national screening programme, the Daily Star previously reported.
