A specialist cancer team from Bradford will be raising awareness at this year’s Saltaire Festival.
Urologists and specialist nurses from Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will be stressing the need for early detection after it was revealed that the North East and Yorkshire region was the second highest area in the UK – and the highest in England – for the percentage of men diagnosed too late to be cured (source: Prostate Cancer UK).
Consultant Urologist and Clinical Lead for Urology, Chidi Molokwu explained it was the second year that the Urology team will be attending the festival which takes place over the next two weeks (September 14-22).
Mr Molokwu continued:
The Urology team will attend the Saltaire Festival for one day on Saturday, 21 September, raising awareness about prostate cancer as we had a large number of visitors seeking information last year.
In the North-East and Yorkshire region 20 percent of those diagnosed with prostate cancer will be incurable. This is second only to Scotland where the rate is 35 percent and Northern Ireland isn’t too far behind us on 20 percent.
In the Bradford, Calderdale and Airedale area, about 600 men are diagnosed each year with prostate cancer while a fifth of these will be diagnosed at an advanced stage meaning they have come forward too late for a cure. We want to raise awareness so that men, aged over 50, can discuss their prostate cancer risk with their GP and get checked earlier to improve their chances of survival.
According to the NHS website, prostate cancer does not usually cause any symptoms until the cancer has grown large enough to put pressure on the tube that carries urine from the bladder out of the penis (urethra). Waiting for symptoms might mean the disease gets too advanced to be cured.
Symptoms can include:
- Needing to pee more frequently, often at night
- Needing to rush to the toilet
- Difficulty in starting to pee (hesitancy)
- Straining or taking a long time while peeing
- Weak flow
- Feeling that your bladder has not emptied fully
- Blood in urine or blood in semen
If you have symptoms that could be caused by prostate cancer, you should see your GP urgently.