How aware are YOU of prostate cancer?

Some 10,000 men die as a result of prostate cancer in the UK every year, and a man aged 50 and above has a one in eleven chance of being diagnosed with the disease during his lifetime. Yet compared with breast cancer, prostate cancer is under funded and under researched, and there has been little improvement in the treatment or survival of men with advanced prostate cancer in the past 50 years.

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Help Carol find a cure for kidney cancer

 6,000 new cases of kidney cancer are found in the UK every year. This number is on the increase. 

 

The James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer is about to undertake the first ever patient survey into kidney cancer in the UK - and they need your help to reach people who have been touched by kidney cancer.

NICE denies cryotherapy treatment for prostate cancer

Hundreds of patients on waiting lists for the minimally invasive treatment of cryotherapy for prostate cancer will be denied this choice following a decision by NICE, the National Institute of Clinical Excellence.

Prostate Cancer e-petition: the Government responds

Every hour in the UK, someone dies from prostate cancer. Last year, campaigner Alan Taylor set up an e-petition on the Prime Minister’s website – asking for more funds to be made available to increase public awareness of prostate cancer, which takes thousands of lives each year.

The Government has now responded to that petition – and here he sets out in detail the current state of play in detecting and treating prostate cancer in this country, the research work needed and the next stage in his ongoing fight for government action.

Women still face cervical cancer risk 25 years after treatment

Cancer experts have called for cytological smears to be offered at regular intervals after someone has had severe dysplasia/CIS (Carcinoma in Situ), as recent research has shown that women are still at risk of developing invasive cancer of the cervix or vagina for up to 25 years after being treated for pre-cancerous lesions. The research also found that there was an increasing risk of cervical cancer if the woman was older at the time of diagnosis - with a much higher risk for women aged over 50.

Petition aims to raise awareness of prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer diagnosed in men in the UK. Each year 35,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and 10,000 men die from the disease - one man every hour. But public awareness of prostate cancer remains worryingly low. Campaigner Alan Taylor is asking our readers to play their part in reducing this figure by signing the e-petition to raise awareness of prostate cancer.

Paving the way for more prostate screening

A new research project being started in Bristol into ways of improving the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer could pave the way for a national screening programme in the future.

Race is on to be screened for prostate cancer

 Former Olympic athlete, Nick Rose, is asking men to get on track and get themselves checked by their GPs for prostate cancer. Nick – now in his mid 50s and still a formidable runner – is also asking for people to support the forthcoming Run for the Future, which is being held over 5km on the Downs in Bristol on Sunday, 16 September, to raise money for the Bristol Urological Institute’s Prostate Cancer Appeal, to fund vital research.

Free NHS home bowel cancer test may save thousands of lives

The charity Cancer Research UK has predicted up to 20,000 fewer deaths over the next 20 years if just 60% of people make use of a free home self test for bowel cancer, called the Faecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT), which is being sent to people aged between 60 and 69 as part of the NHS national bowel cancer screening programme being rolled out in the UK.

Breast cancer patients "being failed"

A seven year study has revealed that the "two week wait rule" introduced in 1998 by the Department of Health is failing breast cancer patients and needs to be urgently reviewed.

Prostate cancer patients put doctors on the spot

The Prostate Cancer Charity, the Royal Society of Medicine and the Prostate Cancer Charter for Action have combined forces to give men affected by prostate cancer, and those closest to them, the chance to hear about the latest prostate cancer research and to question the experts working in the field.

Prostate Cancer screening - "doubts remain"

Prostate cancer, argues Alan Taylor, is a very complex disease which is not yet fully understood either in the UK or worldwide. At present there is no substantive evidence that a prostate screening programme would save lives or that a screening programme would bring more benefits than harm. Linked to this is that medical opinion is divided on how best local, or early, prostate cancer should be treated.

Bob's cancer campaign from beyond the grave

 The UK’s Prostate Cancer Research Foundation has brought Bob Monkhouse “back from the dead” to campaign on their behalf. In the forty second advertisement, Bob Monkhouse - who died of prostate cancer in 2003, looks back on his own life and death – cracking jokes along the way - through the use of advanced filming and editing techniques and the help of a body double.

Let's learn from the Bob Monkhouse prostate cancer film

 With a screening programme I, maybe Bob and a whole lot of other men would have had the chance of early diagnosis and a greater chance of staying alive, says Mature Times reader James Nicholson.

Prostate Cancer and the PSA test: a patient's story

When I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in September 2000 following a random Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test I knew very little about the disease. However, I soon discovered that prostate cancer, which is the most common cancer for men, is complex and unpredictable; and the statistics for the disease are alarming.