Sir Chris Hoy has said the responsibility for raising cancer awareness should not fall solely on celebrity patients like him or Jeremy Clarkson. The six-time Olympic gold medal-winner, who lives with Stage 4 prostate cancer, offered an update on his condition and called for a more proactive national approach to screening.
Hoy calls for systematic screening
Hoy was diagnosed with the disease in September 2023 and revealed it was terminal the following year. He has since become a prominent advocate for encouraging men to get screened, but he wants Britain to adopt a more proactive stance in identifying cases.
The 50-year-old said he would like to see men take more responsibility and is campaigning for better education on the subject. Speaking to BBC Scotland, he said: "Right now life just goes on. You could spend your time sitting worrying about the future but that doesn't help you in any shape or form."
Personal update and frustration with system
Almost three years on from his original diagnosis, Hoy said he is "doing really well" at present. He also expressed some frustration with the current system available to men in Britain.
"I turned 50 recently and I got a letter through the post with a bowel screening test," he said. "I understand the PSA test (a blood test that can aid in detecting prostate cancer) isn't perfect. You can get results, not false positives, but it can be that men can be treated when they maybe didn't need to be treated. But actually, I think that's not a diagnosis issue, that's a treatment issue. That's a decision for the doctors to make. I think knowing your situation is really important."
Clarkson as another example
It emerged in June that Clarkson had been diagnosed with prostate cancer while filming the fifth season of 'Clarkson's Farm'. He has since confirmed he is in remission, but Hoy used him as another example of a public figure who should not have to be the reason people get checked.
"It shouldn't just be down to high-profile individuals like Jeremy Clarkson or myself or any number of men who've been in a similar situation," Hoy added. "There should be a more systematic and proactive approach to let men know about their own risk."
Hoy also said 10,000 men in the United Kingdom every year discover their prostate cancer diagnosis too late. Statistics show the number of men living with prostate cancer has risen by 100,000 since 2020 and around 12,000 men in the UK die from the disease every year.
Tour de 4 charity cycle
As part of his awareness-raising efforts, Hoy is set to stage a 'Tour de 4' charity cycle on Sunday, September 6. The ride will start and finish at the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome in Glasgow, having already raised more than £3 million for UK cancer charities to date.
