Like Clarkson, I have a prostate cancer story: here’s my advice

By now, most of you will be aware that TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has announced he has an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

He said he has been diagnosed after a biopsy.

Clarkson is well known for his association with Top Gear, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, and Clarkson’s Farm and he shared the diagnosis in the final episodes of the latest farm series.

He said he had known since May and described the disease as “aggressive”. He had undergone a biopsy after a check-up but added that it was at a “really early stage”.

The presenter later revealed that the cancer was in his prostate and he had undergone a procedure to remove part of it but “some of the treatment has gone awry”.

I am a big Jeremy Clarkson fan, so I hope he’ll be OK, but his is not an unusual story. Many men receive this diagnosis on a daily basis. It’s extremely common.

In fact, according to the Irish Cancer Society, about 4,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year in Ireland alone. This means that one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime.

It’s not always bad news. Detected early, the prospects of making a full recovery are excellent in most cases.

Since I told my own prostate cancer story in 2018, I have been contacted by many men, directly and indirectly, who were starting their journey into the world of prostate cancer. It’s a worrying time and people reach out for some positivity and reassurance.

I’m happy to talk to anyone at any time, but all I can offer is my own experience. I’m not an expert by any means so I can only give them the benefit of that experience and the reassurance that it is possible to get through it and return to a normal life.

I’m convinced early detection is vital.

As far as I’m concerned, a PSA Test, which is a simple blood test, taken annually, is a great way to detect any abnormality in the prostate. Once the blood test indicates a change, a number of steps follow to determine the extent of the issue. A digital examination, an MRI, and a biopsy will aid a diagnosis.

If cancer is detected, then there is a further test to determine whether it has spread to anywhere else in the body.

At least, that was the process I went through, so it wasn’t just a case of, oh, PSA test results are abnormal, time to get the scalpel out.

There are other reasons too why a prostate might become enlarged and not all of them have to do with cancer.

Similarly, there are alternative treatments available that don’t involve surgery so that’s why I can’t understand why there is such negativity towards the PSA Test. It’s just an indication that something might be wrong and worthy of further examination.

Several countries are considering national screening programmes for prostate cancer but are meeting with resistance from the medical profession.

Recently, an 82-year-old retired cancer surgeon wrote in The Times UK about his own situation where he is dying of prostate cancer, but remains opposed to routine PSA testing for all men.

Since PSA testing came in during the 1990s, he has thought it would be unwise to offer it routinely.

A raised level can mean prostate cancer, but it can also be caused by harmless enlargement of the prostate or other non-cancerous conditions. Some men with prostate cancer have a normal PSA.

The test is useful in the right context, but not reliable enough to use as a mass screening tool, he insists.

The retired cancer surgeon added: “Prostate cancer screening has thus far failed to convince the medical profession. Some prostate cancers kill. Some sit there doing very little.

“PSA testing can find cancers that would never have troubled the man who had them. Once found, however, these cancers trouble most men very much.”

Scottish former Olympic cycling champion Chris Hoy has a different opinion, and he has called for a national screening programme in the UK.

His prostate cancer was diagnosed at age 47, and he says that there is a misconception that the condition affects only older men.

Hoy, now 49, had the illness diagnosed in September, 2023. Having gone to hospital with shoulder pain, he discovered he had a tumour, with primary cancer in his prostate that had metastasised to his bones.

Last October, Hoy revealed to The Sunday Times that the condition was stage four and incurable, and that he had been given a prognosis of two to four years to live.

“There isn’t a national screening process,” Hoy says of the UK. “It shouldn’t be up to people like me to have to go out there and raise awareness, but we do have to, and it should be an automatic thing.”

According to the Irish Cancer Society the PSA blood test checks the level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in your blood. A raised PSA level can be a sign of prostate cancer, but it can also be caused by other conditions like a urinary infection or inflammation of the prostate (prostatitis).

It’s important to know that raised PSA doesn’t always mean cancer. In fact, two out of three men with a raised PSA do not have prostate cancer. Some men with prostate cancer have a normal PSA level.

I’ve said it before, but I’m going to repeat it again because this is very important.

I had none of the recognised symptoms of prostate cancer. The majority of those I have been in contact with over the years had no symptoms either.

So, from my own personal experience, I would advise every male over the age of 40 to start having their PSA monitored annually.

It can’t do any harm, but it could tip the scales in your favour.