Sir Chris Hoy ‘extremely disappointed’ by prostate cancer screening decision

By PA Sport Staff

Olympic cycling great Sir Chris Hoy said he was “disappointed and saddened” by the recommendation not to make prostate cancer screening routinely available for the vast majority of men in the UK.

The six-time Games gold medallist revealed last year his prostate cancer had spread to his bones, and doctors gave him between two and four years to live.

Hoy was reacting to the UK National Screening Committee saying it would not recommend population screening using the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test because it “is likely to cause more harm than good”.

The 49-year-old said introducing regular checks for men with a higher genetic risk of the disease was “a very small step forward” but “not enough”.

He said: “I am extremely disappointed and saddened by the recommendation announced by the National Screening Committee today to rule against national screening for men at high risk of prostate cancer.

“More than 12,000 men are dying of prostate cancer every year; it is now the UK’s most common cancer in men, with black men at double the risk along with men with a family history, like myself.

“Whilst introducing regular checks for men carrying the BRCA genes is a very small step forward, it is not enough.

“I know first hand that by sharing my story following my own diagnosis two years ago, many, many lives have been saved. Early screening and diagnosis saves lives.

“I am determined to continue to use my platform to raise awareness, encourage open discussion, raise vital funds for further research and support, and to campaign for change.”

Experts are waiting to see data from a large trial launched by Prostate Cancer UK last week into whether combining PSA with other tests could lead to a recommendation for population-wide screening.

For now, the committee will put forward only a recommendation to screen men with BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations – which puts them at far higher risk of prostate cancer – every two years, between the ages of 45 and 61.

Following the UKNSC’s draft recommendation, 1966 World Cup winner Sir Geoff Hurst said it should be “mandatory” for all men aged over 45 to be tested for prostate cancer.

He told the Press Association: “I have known many people to suffer with prostate cancer and, given correct testing and early enough testing, they could’ve been furnished with a much better outcome.

“So the results that they have have gone some way towards helping, but I think it would’ve been better if all men over 45 could be tested.”

Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal, who revealed in 2022 that he had undergone successful treatment for prostate cancer, told PA: “Every country has its own norms and values, but the statistics are also important.

“I think many men suffer from prostate cancer, that should be a reason to at least institute a screening test for prostate cancer.”

Former England striker Les Ferdinand, 58, whose grandfather died of the disease, added: “I’ve seen members of my family survive prostate cancer, because their cancer was found in time.

“Without a national screening programme, the responsibility to find prostate cancer early and in time for a cure rests entirely on men’s shoulders, and it shouldn’t be this way.

“Black men are at double the risk of prostate cancer and twice as likely to die, and something has to be done.”