By KEVIN VARDY: I have been diagnosed with aggressive and extensive advanced Prostate cancer. I am 53 years old. The condition is terminal. But if there was a National Prostate Cancer Screening Programme, it is very probable that my condition would have been diagnosed early enough for me to be treated which would have prevented it from being terminal.
My consultant suggests that the cancer started around 3 years ago when I was 50 but that it then spread around six months ago. GP's are issued with Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme information which is aimed at men aged 50 and over, especially if a father or son had the disease which my father did. But this is only 'guidance' and GP practices can choose how they act on the guidelines.
If I had been called in, when I was 50, to discuss prostate screening my situation would not be the one I am facing today.
There are probably tens of thousands of men out there who, like me, are unaware that they may have prostate cancer because it shows few signs that there is anything wrong until it is too late. I became plagued with pelvis, hip and back pain but this was, as I subsequently found out, because it had got into my bones.
The PSA test is not as accurate as Breast Screening (Mammogram) or Cervical Smear but it is a good indication to suggest further investigation.
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