Elite Athlete's Shock Diagnosis
When Ian Colby began experiencing excruciating rib pain, the 52-year-old former oil worker from Oxford assumed it couldn't be anything serious. As a long-distance runner who had recently completed a 3,500km cycle across France, he considered himself in peak physical condition. "I was classed as an elite athlete," Ian recalls. His cancer journey began unexpectedly during a visit to his GP to remove a twig from his eye, when he mentioned the severe rib pain that forced him to curl into a ball.
The Life-Changing Blood Test
Following his doctor's referral for a scan, events moved rapidly. "I got a call from the hospital - I needed to see my GP immediately for a blood test," Ian explains. That test - a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) examination - revealed he had prostate cancer that had spread to his bones, spine and pelvis. Doctors delivered the devastating news: his cancer was incurable, with patients in his position typically living five to six years, with a maximum of ten years.
The father of four, now 57, believes he represents compelling evidence for introducing widespread screening. "I'd probably had this cancer for years, and if I'd gone for a test earlier it's possible the NHS could have cured me," he says. "I don't know how long I have left but, by the estimates the doctor gave me, I might have one or two years."
National Screening Controversy
Last week, health officials rejected proposals for regular PSA testing within a national prostate cancer screening programme, despite long-standing campaigns by The Mail and Prostate Cancer UK. Instead, the National Screening Committee recommended testing only middle-aged men with a specific genetic mutation every two years.
This decision has been met with significant disappointment from health advocates. Laura Kerby, CEO of Prostate Cancer UK, described it as a "deep disappointment," though the charity hopes an ongoing major UK trial will demonstrate that prostate cancer screening is both safe and effective.
The statistics underscore the urgency of the situation: Every year, 63,000 British men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, and 12,000 die from the disease - more annual deaths than breast cancer, which already has an established screening programme.
Current NHS guidelines permit GPs to offer PSA tests to patients showing symptoms or to men over 50 (and black men over 45) upon request. However, medical experts acknowledge this system has significant gaps. Dr Samuel Merriel, a Manchester GP, states: "Not all patients can get in to see their GP, and others haven't heard of the tests. The system isn't working and we need to do more."
The debate around screening centres on concerns about potential harm, as PSA tests can produce false positives and lead to unnecessary invasive procedures. Additionally, some slow-growing prostate cancers might result in risky treatments that outweigh their threat.
A major 300,000-patient Transform trial, partly funded by Prostate Cancer UK, began this month to determine if combining PSA testing with MRI scans could save significant lives. Initial results are expected within two years.
For Ian Colby, these developments arrive too late. "With screening, my cancer could have been caught and I might have lived longer," he reflects. "The Government needs to ensure every man on his 50th birthday is given the chance to get a PSA test. I don't want others to end up like me."
