Bradford clinicians are on a mission to raise awareness of prostate cancer after figures reveal that the Yorkshire region has the worst rate in England for men diagnosed with the disease too late to be cured.
The National audit figures show that 20.1 per cent of men in the North East and Yorkshire region are diagnosed too late compared with 12.5 per cent in London, the lowest rate.
The region also has one of the worst rates across the whole of the UK, second only to Scotland which has a rate of 35 per cent.
As a result, urologists at Bradford Royal Infirmary, part of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, are taking a proactive approach and getting out and about to raise awareness of the disease.
Consultant Urologist and Clinical Lead for Urology, Chidi Molokwu explained that the Urology team’s first ‘road show’ would take place during the Saltaire Festival on Saturday, 16 September.
He said:
We have been thinking about going into the community to spread awareness about prostate cancer for some time and we’re now pleased to be holding an information stall at the festival, he said.
Our main aim is to share information about prostate cancer risks in a low stress, low intensity setting in a relaxed and informal way. We’ll be giving out leaflets and we’ll have quizzes and games. We’ll be sharing a risk calculator which is simple to use via a scan on a smartphone as well as generally giving out advice to men to ensure they talk to their GPs about getting a full prostate check.
When you look at the figures for Yorkshire, it’s concerning to see they are the highest in England and you have to ask why. Why do so many Yorkshiremen present too late with prostate cancer that can’t be cured. Prostate cancer is very curable when caught early; it has about a 98 to 100 per cent cure rate.
As an honorary Yorkshireman myself – I have lived here longer than in my native Nigeria – I would like to help men in our community increase their awareness of prostate cancer. As a consultant urologist, I, along with my colleagues in urology at the Trust, won’t wait for so many men with late disease to come to us, we will try to go out to them and help prevent them from getting late-stage prostate cancer in the first place.
The Trust’s Urology Clinical Nurse Specialists, Alissa Lewis, Claudia Oliveira, Sarah Ross have been involved in setting up the first community event, and Mr Molokwu added that urology colleagues had received “amazing support” from Prostate Cancer UK, the Trust’s Bradford Hospitals Charity and colleagues in the Trust’s Medical Illustration department for helping to provide leaflets and display literature for the event.
We hope this public information event will be the first of many talking about prostate cancer and other urological cancers, he said.
The information stall will be located at the United Reformed Church, Victoria Road, Saltaire, BD18 3 LF on Saturday 16 September from 10am to 4pm.
National Prostate Cancer Audit figures:
Percentage of men diagnosed with prostate cancer too late to be cured:
- Scotland – 35%
- North East and Yorkshire – 20.1%
- Northern Ireland – 20%
- Wales – 19%
- Midlands – 17.8%
- North West – 17.1%
- South West – 16.8%
- East of England – 15.6%
- South East – 14.7%
- London – 12.5%
According to Prostate Cancer UK:
- Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men
- More than 52,000 men are diagnosed on average every year – that’s 144 men every day
- Every 45 minutes one man dies from prostate cancer – that’s more than 12,000 men every year
- 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime
- Read more about prostate cancer here: https://prostatecanceruk.org/