Former Prime Minister David Cameron has revealed that he has been treated for prostate cancer.
Lord Cameron, 59, told the Times newspaper that his wife Samantha insisted he go for a check-up after being inspired by a BBC radio interview with businessman Nick Jones, who was campaigning for more men to get tested after being diagnosed himself.
He underwent a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test earlier this year, followed by an MRI and biopsy that confirmed the diagnosis. He was treated with focal therapy, which targets the area where the tumor is present using methods such as ultrasound waves to destroy cancer cells.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, with around 55,000 new cases each year.
Lord Cameron told the newspaper he wanted to use his platform to support a call by Prostate Cancer Research, a charity that counts Jones, founder of the Soho House private club chain, as a trustee, to offer screening to high-risk men.
Cancer is more common in older people, among men over 75 years of age. Cases in those under 50 years of age are rare. It is also more common in black men.
“I don’t particularly like to talk about my personal and intimate health problems, but I think I should,” Lord Cameron said.
“Let’s be honest. Men aren’t very good at talking about their health. We tend to procrastinate.”
But he said, “I thought, well, this has happened to you and you should lend your voice.”
Lord Cameron, prime minister between 2010 and 2016 and then foreign secretary in Rishi Sunak’s government, told the Times: “I would feel bad if I didn’t come forward and say I’ve had this experience. I had a scan. It helped me discover something that was wrong. It gave me a chance to deal with it.”
There is currently no prostate cancer screening program in the UK due to concerns about the accuracy of PSA tests.
But this expert’s intervention comes days after a major prostate cancer screening trial began in the country. Their goal is to find the best way to detect the disease.
Around one in eight men will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime, according to Prostate Cancer UK, and research shows it has overtaken breast cancer as the most commonly diagnosed form of the disease in the UK.
