TPSA and Preston Rotary (Torbay) 2025 october update

Torbay men urged to take prostate cancer test

£30 and ten minutes 'could be life saver'

By Ben Tisdall/Torbay Weekly

If I told you that you had a one-in-eight chance of dying but could stop it for just five or 10 minutes of your time, and around £30, you’d bite my hand off'

If you could have your dad, your brother, or your husband around for another couple of decades, wouldn’t it be worth it to have a quick jab with a needle?

Hopefully there is enough awareness now, that Prostate cancer is the highest killer of men in the UK (There is a one in four chance you’ll get if you are from an Afro-Caribbean background).

For the past 26 years the Torbay Prostate Support Association has been offering support, and three years ago they started providing free tests for men in the Bay as well as information and help to those that are diagnosed. There is an event at the Livermead House Hotel on October 23, which I urge any man over 45 and reading this to attend, if they can.

Ian Nightingale, of the TPSA told me: "Many men will have no symptoms at all and sadly by the time one in five men are diagnosed their cancer will have spread outside of the prostate making curative treatments harder. It is a fact that early detection saves lives and increases the chances of men having more treatment options therefore potentially leading to fewer side effects.

“Legally men aged 50 and over have the right to request their GP do a PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen), the doctor can however refuse to do the test and are under no obligation to carry it out. In addition to numerous awareness presentations we give, we also provide ‘Buddies’ (men who have experienced prostate cancer treatment) so they can help patients make their choices on potential treatments and provide practical support.

"We raise funds for the local hospitals. Three years ago we donated a vital scanner and associated equipment to the value of approximately £85,000 for the Urological Diagnostic unit at Paignton Hospital to enable them to carry out transperineal biopsies.

"Exercise and general wellbeing are vital in pre-and-post treatment phases and TPSA have contributed to funding such programmes."

Typically, seven per cent of men tested at events like those being held on October 23 will be advised to speak to their GP. It may not necessarily mean they have cancer, but it is surely better to be safer than sorry.

However, each test costs them £26 plus the room hire and admin costs. Therefore, those signing up are asked to make a voluntary donation which I’d suggest should be at least £30, to allow others to be able to benefit from this precautionary test.

"I’ve done it myself for the past three years and it takes ten minutes and is basically a blood test, which is painless. You are then e-mailed with your PSA score a week or so later and told if you are in the ‘safe zone’ or should seek medical help.

Mark Smith is typical of the sort of local man these events help. He said: "Whilst returning from a football match, one of the people in the car informed us of a PSA testing event at the Livermead House Hotel.

"As my dad had prostate cancer, I went along and got tested. A few days later an email arrived which showed that my score was 55 and carried a ‘red warning.

"I then had a MRI and a bone scan followed by a biopsy, this showed aggressive cancer and my mentality was that I wanted my prostate removed.

"However a PET scan showed that the cancer had escaped the prostate and was in my tesicles and one lymph node. After six treatments of chemotherapy and 37 days of radiotherapy backed up with a three-month injection of Decapeptyl for three years, my PSA score is 0.01 and I have been put in remission. "I then had a MRI and a bone scan followed by a biopsy, this showed aggressive cancer and my mentality was that I wanted my prostate removed.

"However a PET scan showed that the cancer had escaped the prostate and was in my tesicles and one lymph node. After six treatments of chemotherapy and 37 days of radiotherapy backed up with a three-month injection of Decapeptyl for three years, my PSA score is 0.01 and I have been put in remission.

“A frank conversation with my consultant revealed that if I had not had the initial test, as I had no symptoms, then within two to four years it would have spread.

"We all know that the cancer can return but if it was not for the initial TPSA charity event then my journey would have been a lot different."

Last year Mark was the senior captain of Torquay Golf Club, and in that year they raised £3,000 from two events for the TPSA to help with future testing.

It takes roughly that amount of money to put on a test event like the one in October.

Marcus Ward is another example. He says: "Two years ago my wife saw a social media post regarding the Torbay Prostate Support Organization testing event and suggested I have a test.

"I had one of the symptoms of prostate cancer, slow urinating which I have had for years, but my GP advised against any testing as there was no prostate cancer in my family and being a young male adult, this testing event was an ideal opportunity to get tested.

"After turning up for the event, which was really easy to book online, I was emailed two days later with the results and given a red-letter result which was a bit of a shock and concerns of cancer which was going through my head.

"After speaking to my GP again, this time he was more interested and carried out further testing, this being another PSA test, physical examination, MRI scan and a biopsy which took a few months.

"During the physical examination I was advised on an enlarged prostate which can affect the detection of cancer cells when a biopsy is carried out. Nothing was found and it still remains inconclusive but advised I would need to be tested annually for the rest of my life.

"Two of my friends who have had PSA tests like me were diagnosed with prostate cancer and one had his prostate removed and the other through a GP test has radioactive seed implants known as brachytherapy which is a form of radioactive therapy to fight the cancer.

"Both friends had no symptoms but had previously undetected cancer. So, PSA testing is a good start in the first stage of prostate cancer detection. In both cases early testing has caught the cancer early and saved a lot of future issues."

Ian Nightingale adds: "It should be noted that the PSA test in itself is only part of the diagnostic pathway, and the current protocol is far more reliable than say ten years ago.

"If you would like to support TPSA, who are literally saving lives, or are able to help with funding future events then please go to our website www.tpsa.org.uk.

"Remember your donation could help save a man you know or at the very least improve his quality of life. If I had a spare £30, I’d give it to them to run another event like the one on October 23."