Chris Hoy’s brave intervention could stop thousands of men dying too soon

Some 12,000 men die from prostate cancer each year, many after begging their doctors to be tested – after which they are told they only have months to live. The Olympic cyclist’s call for a rethink of GP screening could be a game-changer, says Oliver Kemp

Earlier this week, Chris Hoy shared the heartbreaking story of his terminal prostate cancer diagnosis, including the “nightmare” experience of breaking the news to his young children.

Chris is not alone. Versions of this tragedy are playing out – albeit on less public stages – every day across the UK. When I heard his powerful interview, I also heard echoes of the stories that hundreds of men have shared with me about their own cancer diagnoses which came far too late.

Men who were prescribed Viagra and sent away by doctors after sharing their symptoms. Men who had to beg to be tested again and again – some up to five or six times – only to be passed from doctor to doctor and then finally told they had just months to live. Men who experienced no symptoms at all, until, by chance, it was discovered that their cancer was so far advanced that it had spread to their bones, just like Sir Chris’s.

Every one of these men told me of their regret at not having had their cancer caught in the early stages, when the disease is relatively straightforward to treat and five-year survival rates are close to 100 per cent. They felt failed by a health service that dismissed their concerns and downplayed their risk. They were the losers in a postcode lottery weighted against men in deprived areas and those at highest risk of the disease – Black men and men over 45 with a family history of prostate cancer.

I thought of these men again when I heard health secretary Wes Streeting announce he would order an NHS review into prostate cancer screening. But this time, I also felt a glimmer of hope that long-awaited change could be on the horizon.

Right now, the existing “informed choice” system, which requires men to actively request a PSA test, is failing. It relies on men being aware of the symptoms and having a GP willing to take action. As a direct result of the current system, too many men are being diagnosed far too late – as Sir Chris was. Almost one-fifth of the approximately 55,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer each year in the UK are diagnosed late, meaning their five-year survival rate is less than 50 per cent. The status quo must change, and there’s no time to waste. Prostate cancer is killing over 12,000 men every year, and cases are on the rise.

Excitingly, we now have compelling new evidence to suggest that rolling out a national prostate cancer screening programme for high-risk groups could save hundreds of lives every year, whilst delivering net benefits to the national economy. For men in these groups, there is now also evidence that the advantages of actively screening greatly outweigh the risks of overdiagnosis and overtreatment.

On 14 November,  MPs David Lammy, James Cleverly and Josh Babarinde will host a cross-party event in the House of Commons on behalf of Prostate Cancer Research which will be attended by parliamentarians, healthcare professionals, celebrity supporters and members of the patient community. There, we will launch a landmark report in which we will call for reforms to prostate cancer screening in the UK, beginning with screening being immediately offered to high-risk groups. This method is cost-effective and will save many lives. It is an important first step towards a wider universal screening programme.

If we do not take action right now to end late diagnoses, versions of Sir Chris Hoy’s story will continue to play out on repeat: devastating more families and ending more lives far too soon. We owe it to Sir Chris, for his bravery and his advocacy, to heed his call for screening reform.

Oliver Kemp is CEO of Prostate Cancer Research