“LET’S NOT ALLOW SIR CHRIS HOY’S BRAVE PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT GO TO WASTE”
The moment when Sir Chris Hoy went public about the fact that at the age of forty-eight, he
had been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer, he went from "National Olympic hero" to
"National Treasure".
As a prostate cancer awareness charity established 20 years ago, and which has been involved
in carrying out well over 300,000 PSA tests, leading to over 3,200 cancer finds in that time,
we've seen several spikes in awareness following similar public statements, from the likes of
the late Bill Turnbull and Stephen Fry, but we believe this has the potential to be the biggest
game changer ever.
People will be asking themselves “How can such an outstanding athlete and multiple
Olympic Gold Medalist be struck down in this way?”
Sir Chris has made a very public plea for the testing age to be reduced to 45 or perhaps even 40
years for men with a family history, or from an African Caribbean background, as both groups of
men are known to be more at risk and indeed, this has been reinforced by the current Health
Minister. Even if this well overdue change is accepted at the top table, experience tells us its
implementation is likely to be somewhat different.
We have large numbers of men over fifty coming to us because their GP has refused them a
PSA test, many of them with a family history. We appreciate all men should receive counselling
before undergoing a test, and we have sympathy for GPs facing increasing demand for their
services with stretched reserves, particularly following the once in a lifetime impact of the
Covid pandemic.
We do believe strongly however, that they should be giving credence to the latest research,
which shows that conducting MRI scans before biopsies, using risk-based factors such as age,
ethnicity, and family history, must be acknowledged.
There are also a range of new advanced psa tests at their disposal which show excellent results
in terms of more effective diagnosis.
We are here to help any GP who feels working with someone like us can benefit their patients.
We have access to four of the leading new advanced tests, we operate a risk-based algorithm
for advice on retesting periods to avoid annual tests where possible. We work closely with
Dr Asif Naseem a GP with LSDC Healthcare, with a specialist interest in prostate cancer. Dr
Naseem has recently helped two men with high PSA scores to secure a two-week referral into
the NHS cancer diagnosis pathway, with very timely interventions for both men who sadly had
been faced with the too often heard response of "come back when you have symptoms" from
their own GP.
In addition to offering tests at a wide range of venues around the UK we offer, as a not-for-
profit charity, Home Testing Kits at a competitive price. Visit us at www.tgfct.org.uk to find out
about the charity and www.mypsatests.org.uk to book on an event or order a home testing kit.
Let us make sure that, between us all, we put the bravery of Sir Chris Hoy's public statement up
there with his remarkable Olympic exploits.
Graham Fulford MBE Founder and Trustee of GFCT Ltd
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