Lord David Cameron has revealed he was successfully treated for prostate cancer after being persuaded by his wife Samantha to get tested.
The former UK prime minister and foreign secretary has now backed a targeted screening programme for the UK’s most common cancer in men.
Lord Cameron has revealed how he and his wife heard the founder of international the members club Soho House, Nick Jones, speaking about his experience with the cancer on the radio a year ago.
The politician went for a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, an MRI scan and then a biopsy which confirmed the diagnosis.
“You always dread hearing those words,” he told The Times. “And then literally as they’re coming out of the doctor’s mouth you’re thinking, ‘Oh, no, he’s going to say it. He’s going to say it. Oh God, he said it.'”
He acknowledged his “platform”, adding: “This is something we’ve really got to think about, talk about, and if necessary, act on.”
Lord Cameron has a specific interest in health developments, working to spearhead an Oxford research centre dedicated to developing new treatments for rare genetic diseases, inspired by the death of his son 15 years ago. Ivan, who died aged six, suffered from Ohtahara syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy characterised by seizures.
Lord Cameron said last year that he intends to use his role as chairman of an advisory council at the Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre to help bring together “distin
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