An ultrasound scan showing a prostate with signs of cancer
CAVALLINI JAMES/BSIP SA/Alamy
As a man in my mid-50s, I am starting to think about what might be coming to haunt me in later life. One persistent worry is prostate cancer. I have a family history of it, which puts me at higher risk. I don’t have any major symptoms. Still, I should probably have gone for a test by now. But for years I have read that they aren’t very accurate and can lead to unnecessary surgeries that carry a risk of incontinence and impotence. And people keep telling me that even if you have prostate cancer, you are unlikely to die of it.
I am not the first person to be confused about prostate cancer and whether to test for it, but today these questions are of increasing importance because we are in the midst of a troubling global trend. According to recent projections, cases of prostate cancer are set to shoot up over the next 15 years, and if nothing is done, deaths will rise substantially too.
However, while the increase in cases is a foregone conclusion – a reflection of our ageing population – the increase in deaths isn’t. That is because, in recent years, we have begun to see a transformation in our diagnostic tools. These are helping doctors to identify the most severe prostate cancers…
