Australian men of all ages will soon be able to receive blood tests for prostate cancer as part of major changes to how the disease is diagnosed.
Craig Watts, 61, was diagnosed with prostate cancer just four days after his mother’s funeral. He had no symptoms.
“She sort of said to me, you’ve got advanced prostate cancer and it’s spread through your body,” Watts recalled.
His goal now is simple: “I want to see my kids grow up. I would love to walk my daughter down the aisle and have grandkids.”
Former treasurer Wayne Swan, a prostate cancer survivor himself, has reunited with the surgeon who saved his life 25 years ago to advocate for change.
“It was caught just in the nick of time. If I hadn’t been diagnosed when I was, I wouldn’t be here today,” Swan said.
“Once prostate cancer has spread beyond the prostate, it is not curable,” urologist Professor Peter Heathcote said.
More than 26,000 Australian men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year. Ten Australian men die from prostate cancer every day.
“The government spends a couple of hundred million dollars a year on breast cancer screening and nothing for prostate cancer,” Swan said.
“If we have a screening program for, say, the over 40s or the over 50s, we can save tens of thousands of lives.”
7NEWS understands new early detection guidelines will be released within weeks, making clear doctors should not refuse a PSA test to any man who requests one, regardless of age or risk profile.
“It’s a blood test. You don’t need to worry about a finger in your bum,” Heathcote said.
“No matter how big and strong you think you are, please get tested,” Watts said.
