It is always sad to hear about someone who has been given the news they have prostate cancer, and having experienced this myself, I fully understand what they must be thinking. But in the case of a man I heard about recently whose cancer is much more advanced than mine was, I can only wonder if he had been screened earlier would his condition be much improved.

There has been some debate on how effective early diagnosis is, but at the very least, it gives men who have been diagnosed with the disease, the opportunity to discuss with their oncologist the likelihood of it being the less harmful or more aggressive form of cancer.

This was my position 18 years ago, and 16 years after opting for surgery, I’m very thankful that I was screened early, enabling me to make a decision on which course of treatment to take. I tell how this came about in my book (along with a collection of Irish short stories) https://williamlongbooks.co.uk/books/an-unexpected-diagnosis/

There are a number of websites offering information on prostate cancer. One USA site which covers a lot of the issues is https://prostatecancerfree.org/

Another excellent site is the Macmillan Cancer Support at  https://www.macmillan.org.uk/

A previous blog on the subject: https://williamlongbooks.co.uk/prostate-screening/

W.L.