'My father's cancer saved my life'
When acclaimed director Steve McQueen was diagnosed with prostate cancer, he knew that his diagnosis had almost been an inevitability.
Prostate cancer affects one in every eight men, with the chances it developing being two-and-a-half times higher in men whose father had the disease, and twice as likely in black men. After McQueen’s father died of prostate cancer, he began regularly testing for prostate cancer. During one of his routine check-ups with HCA Healthcare UK Consultant Urologist and Andrologist Professor Suks Minhas, McQueen’s prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, a potential indicator of prostate cancer, had been seen to be steadily rising, and he was sent for an MRI and biopsy. The results came back positive – McQueen had early stage prostate cancer.
While looking for a surgeon, McQueen was recommended Mr Ben Challacombe, Consultant Urological Surgeon at The Prostate Centre, HCA UK’s dedicated centre for the diagnosis and management of prostate problems and urological cancers. Mr Challacombe performed a bilateral, nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy, which uses keyhole techniques to remove the prostate while preserving the nerves around it. Benefitting from the faster recovery times granted by minimally-invasive surgery, McQueen was back to work directing only two weeks after his surgery. Now, McQueen, Professor Minhas and Mr Challacombe are working to make a difference, raising awareness in men of the importance of regularly checking their prostate so that more cases of prostate cancer can be caught early and treated.
Mr Ben Challacombe, Consultant Urological Surgeon, sees patients at The Prostate Centre, 18 Devonshire Street, London W1G 7AQ and HCA UK at the Shard, St Thomas Street, London SE1 9BS.