David Cameron reveals prostate cancer diagnosis and calls on ministers to introduce screening
David Cameron announced that he was diagnosed with cancer while calling on the government to implement targeted screening.
The 59-year-old former prime minister said he was diagnosed with prostate cancer after his wife Samantha encouraged him to get tested.
Lord Cameron told Times He said he wanted to add his name to the long list of people calling for a targeted screening program.
“I would feel bad if I didn’t come forward and say I had this experience. I had a scan. It helped me discover something was wrong. It gave me a chance to deal with it,” she said.
After his diagnosis, he said he wanted to support the charity Prostate Cancer Research’s call for screening for men considered to be at high risk.
Lord Cameron said he was diagnosed with cancer after having a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test to look for key proteins linked to cancer. Biopsy confirmed the diagnosis.
“You’re always afraid to hear those words,” he said The Times.
“I made this decision, as do many people with prostate cancer,” he said.
“Do you watch and wait? Or do you look at what the treatment options are? Do I want to risk not taking action, or do I want to risk taking action?”
Lord Cameron said he chose focal therapy, in which needles deliver electric pulses to destroy cancerous cells. After successful treatment, he had another MRI scan in June.
Acknowledging his “platform”, he added: “This is something we really need to think about, talk about and, if necessary, act on.”
As Prime Minister, he launched the 100,000 Genomes Project in 2012, which sequenced the genomes of 100,000 NHS patients with a rare disease or cancer.
Lord Cameron last year became chairman of the advisory council of a body aimed at developing new treatments for rare genetic diseases.
The Oxford-Harrington Center for Rare Diseases is a partnership between the University of Oxford and the Harrington Discovery Institute in Cleveland, Ohio.
Writing in The Times, Lord Cameron said the reason he lost his son Ivan to a rare genetic disease 15 years ago was close to his heart.
