An Oxfordshire man is launching a campaign to fight the war against prostate cancer in the month when figures show that prostate cancer has reached its highest-ever level in the UK.

For the first time, more men are dying from prostate cancer each year than women are from breast cancer.

Timon Colegrove from Woodstock in Oxfordshire was diagnosed with prostate cancer at the age of 56 as he was about to get married.

He was facing a conventional cancer treatment plan using radiotherapy likely to produce the widely-known side effects of impotence and incontinence.

Timon heard about proton beam therapy by chance, after he attended a talk given at his local golf club by a professor from the Rutherford Cancer Centre and opted for the revolutionary new treatment.

Timon has just been given his first annual all-clear from Rutherford Cancer Care. He still has a normal physical relationship with his wife and has no other complications.

Now Timon has set up a campaign called Men Are Talking to tackle the embarrassment surrounding prostate cancer and dispel the myth that debilitating radiation is our only option.

A study in the US recently confirmed that proton therapy slashes the risk of impotence and incontinence, due to the ability to precision-target cancer cells as

opposed to the ‘scatter gun’ approach of radiation. Impotence and incontinence are so life-changing that rather than face such humiliations, the majority of men would prefer to ignore their cancer symptoms.

Timon is free for interview the week commencing Jan 20th.

This is his story: https://www.therutherford.com/patients/patient-stories/timon.

He writes: "This morning I was on BBC Local Radio (60,000+ tune to BBC Oxford every week) - you can listen here if interested - I’m on at 2hrs and 11 minutes into the show - to talk about my prostate cancer experience, and the general lack of awareness of PBT particularly among the newly diagnosed PC victims."

Ends

Notes to Editors

Rise in Prostate Cancer Rates

According to Cancer Research UK, age-specific incidence rates rise steeply from around age 50-54, peak in the 75-79 age group, and subsequently drop in the 80-84 age group, before increasing steadily again. The highest rates are in the 75 to 79 age group. For prostate cancer, like most cancer types, incidence increases with age.

For the first time, more men are dying from prostate cancer each year than women are from breast cancer. This is due to an increasing and ageing population. Men over 50 are at a higher risk than younger men and so the number of deaths from prostate cancer in more affluent areas has spiked compared to twenty years ago.

Plans to create an accurate test fit for use as part of a nationwide prostate cancer screening programme are underway. The current protocol for early detection of prostate cancer is not a reliable or consistent tool for diagnosis. Add this to a prevailing reluctance for men to come forward through embarrassment or fear of debilitating radiation side effects and deaths will continue to spiral.

Cancer Study

The biggest-ever study of cancer patients treated by proton beam therapy was published in the US in the last two weeks and has caused excitement in the medical community. *

Its findings represent positive news for many sufferers of cancer because it shows that proton beam therapy significantly reduces the onerous side effects of conventional cancer treatment.

You may be interested in an interview with Professor Karol Sikora - Medical Director of Rutherford Health or Mike Moran - the CEO of The Rutherford - the first facility in the UK to deliver proton beam therapy to cancer patients to discuss the findings and proton beam therapy. 

*The study: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/923246