BBC presenter Bill Buckley has announced that he has been treated for prostate cancer, revealing the shocking way he found out. The long-serving broadcaster, who has been with the BBC since the 1980s and co-hosted That's Life with Esther Rantzen, urged men to go for regular checks.
Buckley, who has presented on BBC Radio Berkshire, BBC Radio Solent, BBC Radio Oxford, and LBC, was taken to A&E with leg pains. There, doctors told him he had one of the biggest blood clots they had ever seen. He was prescribed blood thinners and thought he was out of the woods, but as he was leaving, a nurse said: 'Oh by the way, and you do know you have prostate cancer don't you?'
Treatment and clinical trial
Buckley was treated with HIFU (High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound) as part of a clinical trial. He said: 'I'm one of the very tiny number of people so far who have had this wonderful treatment... and I couldn't have had it if I had been discovered to have cancer late.' He added: 'So that old message that people keep banging on about cannot be said too often - go for the regular checks.'
After the diagnosis, Buckley had regular check-ups to monitor the cancer's progression. When doctors told him it had grown larger and needed treatment, he underwent HIFU at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough. He said he was 'blessed' to be living in the right area to be considered for the trial, adding: 'I was born in the right age, even the right decade, because only a few years ago I would have had quite a few weeks or months of feeling pretty wretched.'
Reflection on diagnosis
Buckley reflected on the casual way he was told, saying: 'She was a lovely nurse, and I don't blame her for saying it that way because I think she absolutely assumed 100% that I did know this, but it had been picked up in the various tests. Suddenly my world crashed back down again.' He noted that most men die with, rather than of, prostate cancer, as it often remains harmless for decades.
