Thousands of men die from prostate cancer every year because of late diagnosis, charity warns
- Highest proportion of prostate cancer cases spotted only when it has spread
- Some 42.5 per cent of men are now diagnosed at stage three or four of cancer
- Experts say a lack of awareness among GPs of factors that put men at risk
- In Britain one in eight men get prostate cancer with 11,000 dying every year
By Eleanor Hayward Health Reporter For The Daily Mail
Published: 20:19 EDT, 1 September 2019 | Updated: 03:57 EDT, 2 September 2019
Thousands of men are dying of prostate cancer because they are diagnosed too late to receive a cure, a charity has warned.
The proportion of cases spotted only when the cancer has spread outside the prostate has reached an all-time high.
Some 42.5 per cent of men are now diagnosed at stage three or four, up from 31 per cent in 2012.
Thousands of men are dying from prostate cancer because they are diagnosed too late to receive a cure, a survey by men’s charity Orchid found (file)
Experts said a lack of awareness among GPs of factors that put men at risk of the disease means thousands are not being diagnosed until it is too late.
Prostate cancer is easily treatable if it is diagnosed early and is still localised – but is usually terminal if it has spread extensively.
Men diagnosed with stage four cancer have just a 22 per cent chance of surviving for ten years, compared to a 98 per cent chance if they are diagnosed early, at stage one.
A survey by men’s cancer charity Orchid found that less than half of GPs recognised that family history was a major risk factor, despite this potentially doubling a man’s risk.
And only five per cent named ethnicity as a primary risk factor, despite black African and black Caribbean men being twice as likely to develop the disease as other men.
Rebecca Porta, from men’s cancer charity Orchid, is calling on GPs to consider prostate cancer risk even before men present with symptoms.
She said: ‘It is very worrying that the number of men diagnosed in the late stages of prostate cancer grows each and every year.’
A doctor holds a blue prostate cancer awareness ribbon. The Daily Mail has campaigned to end needless prostate cancer deaths through better diagnosis (file)
‘Being diagnosed with prostate cancer at a later stage can reduce the chances of survival, limit treatment options and is likely to result in not only greater stress for the man and his family, but more invasive interventions.
‘We are calling for men, and GPs, to be aware of four main risks factors: family history; age; a change in urinary habits; and ethnicity.
‘We must get more men speaking to their GPs sooner, only then we will begin to turn the tide on the ever-growing number of men being diagnosed with late stage prostate cancer.’
The Daily Mail has campaigned to end needless prostate cancer deaths through better diagnosis.
In Britain, more than 47,000 men a year are diagnosed with prostate cancer, one in eight men will get it, and more than 11,000 die from it every year.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK and it is estimated that one in eight men in the UK will develop prostate cancer at some point in their lives.
