Sir Chris Hoy has called for the screening age for prostate cancer to be lowered and insists it could save millions of lives.
The six-time Olympic champion revealed last month that his cancer is terminal, just months after he first made news of his diagnosis public in February.
He has had treatment, including chemotherapy, after a tumour was found in his shoulder while a second scan found the primary cancer is in his prostate but had metastasised to his bones.
Now, in a new BBC documentary titled “Sir Chris Hoy: Finding Hope” to be broadcast on Tuesday, the 48-year-old called for a change to the current screening processes.
The NHS has no national screening programme for prostate cancer, but men aged 50 and over can ask for a free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test from their GP.
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Sir Chris believes that should change and any opportunity to catch the disease earlier should be taken.
He said: “I believe that the screening for men with a strong family history of prostate cancer, should be a lot younger, a lot.
“It’s logical to me why would you not just get the test a little bit earlier, catch it before you need to have any major treatment? So to me it seems a no brainer.
“Why would they not reduce the age, bring the age down, allow more men to just go in and get a blood test?”
And when asked if it was something he could force change on, he replied: “I hope so.
“I hope, well maybe not, maybe people seeing this or hearing about my story and then just by them asking their GP will create enough of a surge of interest, that people that make the decisions will go ‘you know what, we need to address this’.
“And in the long term this will actually, even from a logistical point of view would save potentially millions of lives in the long term. And why wouldn’t you, you know, why wouldn’t you?!”
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Sir Chris “makes a very compelling case” after the Olympic cycling champion called for the screening age for prostate cancer to be lowered for men with a strong family history of the disease.
Mr Streeting told BBC Radio 4’s the Today programme: “I think he makes a very compelling case.
“I’ve asked the NHS to look at whether we are currently in the right place when it comes to screening so that’s something that we’re actively looking at.
“And actually one of many reasons why Chris Hoy’s openness about his own experience with cancer, his family’s experience with cancer, I think has been so impactful because moments like this, especially where you’ve got a high-profile case and someone who’s willing to talk as openly as he is about his situation, I think it prompts a good debate about whether or not we’ve got the screening and the early diagnosis in the right place.
“And also I think there’ll be lots of people who are living with cancer who will take a great deal of comfort in how he’s approaching his own cancer journey as well and certainly I found it extremely moving, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.”
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