Chair tells prostate cancer support group to let its voice be heard

* Tony Collier, vice-chair of the charity Tackle Prostate Cancer, addresses the meeting in The Hand.

Members of Llangollen's Prostate Cancer Support Group should be speaking out to promote PSA screening on demand for men in the UK.

That was the strong message that came from their latest monthly meeting at The Hand Hotel yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon.

PSA (prostate-specific antigen) screening is a blood test that measures the level of protein produced by the prostate gland to help detect prostate cancer in men.

Widespread PSA screening is currently not recommended in the UK because the Government does not believe PSA is accurate enough to detect cancer that needs treatment. 

However, men aged 50 or over can ask their GP for a test, even if they do not have symptoms. 

Llangollen support group - like many of its counterparts across the UK - says this stance is wrong and has decided to push for PSA screening as a matter of course..

Tony Collier, vice-chair of the charity Tackle Prostate Cancer, who was a guest speaker at yesterday's meeting, detailed his own cancer journey.

He described how he was diagnosed nine years ago, being told it was incurable and that he only had two to three years to live. 

He has survived so far with the help of treatment to become a passionate advocate for screening.

"I was told my own cancer had developed over 10 years and I was furious when I found out at the age of 60 that I had been eligible for a PSA test at 50 and that my cancer would have been curable if detected at an earlier stage," he said.

* Stuart Davies: "Our voices should be heard."

The group's chair, former Llangollen mayor Stuart Davies, who has also been a keen campaigner for widespread testing after his own prostate cancer battle, told the meeting: "We need voices like ours to be heard. We have got to say to the government: 'Come on, we want PSA testing on demand'.

"We are a group of 50-odd group of patients and we need to be making noises to the all-party Parliamentary group that is currently looking at this issue."

This group he referred to has over 100 members working together to highlight and champion improvements in policy towards better outcomes for men affected by prostate cancer.