The media intensive coverage of  27 year old Jade Goody’s illness and tragic death, has caused an upsurge in the UK of women asking to be screened for cervical cancer. This has been welcomed by cancer charities, as the proportion of women taking up the invitation for a test has been steadily falling for the past ten years. 

In the UK there is a free national screening programme and almost 4 million women are tested every year. However more than one in five eligible women do not go for a test, and it is hoped the publicity surrounding Jade Goody will improve the proportion screened. The good news is that the screening programme has worked, with cervical cancer deaths reduced by nearly 70% in the past 30 years.

Unfortunately there is not an equivalent screening programme for the most common male cancer in the UK – prostate cancer. Every year nearly 35,000 men are diagnosed and more than 10,000 die from the disease. Men over 45 can ask their UK doctor for a PSA test, but this is not offered as standard. Consequently 94% of men do not ask for this test. This is tragic as worldwide prostate cancer is the second leading cause of terminal cancer, and regular screenings would reduce early deaths by 20%. 

I have recently had a PSA test along with my brother and a friend, and we have had results of 0.6, 1.0, and 2.2. Any result over 3.0 would require further tests, so we are all OK for another year. Statistically men die younger than women, and one of the reasons is that they don’t visit the doctor enough!  Don’t let this be you; –  if you are a male over 50 make an appointment with your doctor now, and get the PSA test done.

John McNally