Prostate cancer now kills more in the UK than breast cancer

Source: Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

According to numbers released last week by Prostate Cancer UK, prostate cancer kills more people than breast cancer. 11,800 men died from prostate cancer in 2015 compared to 11,400 women who died of breast cancer.

Breast cancer research is 20 years ahead of prostate cancer which receives half the funding and research. Experts credit this gap to the number of organisations raising funds and the public relations efforts to stamp out breast cancer.

The introduction of precision medicine, a screening program and a research boost has played an important role in reducing the number of women who die from the disease.

Regina Santos, a lead clinical nurse specialist in breast care went into detail surrounding the developments in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment: “One in eight women will get cancer over their lifetime but overall, the prognosis and overall survival are increasing with 78 per cent surviving breast cancer. There are more targets the government is enforcing. There’s quite a lot of rapid diagnostic clinics nowadays so most likely at the end of the clinic visit they’ll be able to know whether it’s a cancer diagnosis.”

Regina added that there were improvements in treatments like targeted therapies, such as Herceptin. In addition to this, other modern treatments that were previously only in America and other European countries are now available in the UK, so a patient’s chance of curative options and survival are improved.

Source: Alamy

The same cannot be said for prostate cancer as more men are diagnosed and dying due to an ageing population.

Unlike other cancers, prostate cancer may not exhibit any early warning signs or symptoms. The cancer usually develops slowly, so there may be no signs for many years. Symptoms often only become apparent when the prostate is large enough to affect the urethra. As a result, men are less likely to be diagnosed earlier and are 67% more likely to die following diagnosis.

Ceri Eames, a Cancer Awareness Nurse Manager at Cancer Research UK, explains how to approach the situation: “There is no screening programme for prostate cancer in the UK. What I would suggest is that men visit the GP when they’re concerned about something. Even if they’re concerned about prostate cancer they can often go and talk to their GP and just talk about the options.”

However, the 2017 GP Patient Survey for England showed that almost a quarter of men with full-time jobs had not contacted their GP over the past year, compared to 12 per cent of women. Some of this is could be attributed to the model of masculinity and the desire to not show weakness.

“I think it’s always best to approach something just openly and honestly. Some symptoms around prostate cancer can be needing to urinate more often, getting up in the night to urinate and felling like you need to urinate even when you don’t. Some men can find that embarrassing and we want them to know that doctors have seen it all before” Ceri added.

She urged that the best thing to do is see doctor and to not let something like embarrassment stop someone from getting a possible diagnosis for something.

Cancer affects both men and women. With the right funding, developments can be made in prostate cancer research. Prostate Cancer UK wants £120 million to halve the predicted deaths by 2026, and is holding a series of March for Men walks to help raise it.

Source: Prostate Cancer UK

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