Prostate cancer screening

Hi Freda and sorry to hear.

I do agree with you, no screening, initially all asking for is a PSA.

Have you looked at clinical trials,  there are a couple for advanced cancers.

Best wishes 

Steve 

We have unfortunately none suitable!  My husband doesn’t have the BRACA gene!  Hope all you men insist on PSA tests! 

Well I did from about 55+ but I think these days it affects more  mid 40's+ upwards

Steve 

Hello Freda (Freda1) 

I can fully understand your feelings - it's so unfair, they have it for other cancers, surely even all the false positives are worth it - if it also find the true positives. But no, my gut feeling is it's down to cost and lack of testing capacity in the NHS.

Back to your situation at the moment, please do contact our Support line on 0808 808 00 00 (8am to 8pm 7 days a week) where they can give you plenty of practical help and advice or just be a listening ear.

There are a couple of points which may help you:

* We have this group you may wish to join - here's the link you need:

Supporting someone with incurable cancer forum 

* There are also plenty of ongoing clinical trials and here's a link to these:

Cancer Research UK / Clinical Trials / Prostate Cancer.

I hope this helps. If i can do anything for you, please do get back to me.

Best wishes - Brian.

On diagnosis my husband was 1200 camdd Ed down to 1 but after two rounds of chemo radiotherapy and hormone treatment back up to 169

Thank you the false positives are because of low numbers there is no doubt at 1200. It’s absolutely down to cost.  I worked in health commissioning for 29!years and there us a saying 80% ov men over 80 have prostrate cancer. Other conditions will take them first”. Doesn’t help the under 80s!

Hello Freda (Freda1) 

I know that even simple publicity, men just taking about the cancer can make other men sit up and think.

At my diagnosis I knew nothing about Prostate Cancer - my wife is an A & E nurse and I am perhaps better informed than many - but I was still in the dark. I decided once I was feeling better I didn't want any man to go through what I had. I now talk openly about the symptoms - the PSA test and I nearly always have a T-Shirt on or a badge from Prostate Cancer UK.

Most men don't want to know or think the diagnosis is the finger up the bum (Digital Rectal Examination) it's not. Once you start talking they become interested and I've lost count of the men I have sent for a test - and the number now undergoing treatment.

The UK Government by not testing men over 50 (and those at risk at an earlier age) are complicit in causing thousands of deaths that could be prevented by a simple test.

Freda1 said:

It’s absolutely down to cost.

You are so RIGHT!!!

Best wishes - Brian.

Brian I hope your outcome is good!  Similarly we talk about this awful disease where we can and a few of our friends have had a curable position. I am angry that my husband’s symptoms were missed/ ignored and now he is palliative and in a lot of bone pain.  We hoped the screening programme would be approved for the sake of our children! Onwards and upwards as they say! 

Hello Freda , I’m so sorry to hear of your circumstances. I hope the professionals will manage to get control of your husband’s pain.

re universal screening, I m afraid I agree with Brian. It’s the sheer lack of resources sitting behind the decision not to offer all men screening. They get false negatives and positives in other screen8ng programmes.

re the genetics. My husband has a strong family history of prostate cancer and deaths under the age of 50 for breast cancer. He, too, is BRCA negative but they warned us that familial incidences in many families leads them to think that they are genetically caused but they haven’t yet found the faulty gene. As a result our sons were both advised to have annual PSA testing and our daughters to have annual mammograms when in their 40s. 

best wishes 

Hello thank you for the kind words!  We too have urged our son to have regular PSA tests.  Let’s hope a screening programme for none BRACA is approved soon. Best wishes