Teesside men urged to not put off prostate cancer checks
Prostate Cancer UK says the first test is a blood test not a physical examination
We are hearing how men in Teesside are putting off prostate cancer checks because they think it is a physical doctor examination when it is not.
This Men’s Health Week, men from all corners of the UK — including celebrities, politicians, and men who’ve been diagnosed with prostate cancer — have united with Prostate Cancer UK to send a clear, lifesaving message… you do not need a rectal exam to test for prostate cancer. The first test is a simple blood test.
Their call follows an announcement by the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) urging GPs to stop using the outdated and inaccurate digital rectal examination (DRE) as a standard test, labelling it a “poor test” that deters men from coming forward.
Despite the fact that experts agree the rectal exam is outdated and no longer fit for purpose, research shows that 6 in 10 men were concerned about having a rectal exam. Of those, over a third (37%) would not speak to a GP about prostate worries because they feared the DRE exam.
The charity says 1 in 8 men will get prostate cancer, and it is now England’s most common cancer. It is also the only common cancer without a screening programme.
Men are encouraged to use Prostate Cancer's 30-second online Risk Checker to understand their risk, and to talk to their GP about the PSA blood test.
75 year-old Terry Bytheway, from Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, said: "It does frighten a lot of men off but it doesn't necessarily have to be the first check that they do. The first check they could do is a PSA test which is a simple blood test. At the moment, PSA tests aren't freely available, you have to ask for one but it's easy enough to ask for one.
"I think it's very difficult for men to actually even ask the question because they feel embarrassed by the whole issue. Please don't feel embarrassed by it. It's much better to die of embarrassment than to die of cancer.
"This is the big problem; "I feel OK. I have no symptoms." I know people in the past who had no symptoms whatsoever, but they got it checked because I asked them to and they actually found they had prostate cancer, so please don't think that because you're fine, you're going to be OK.
"It took me probably nearly a year to see my doctor and then it was more out of curiosity than it was really for any reason. When I went, I was told that my PSA, which should have been four or five, was 32. It meant cancer had basically started spreading in my body, so don't get to that stage."