More Lives Being Lost Unnecessarily.
Sir Chris Hoy has said he is “disappointed and saddened” after UK health chiefs refused to introduce routine prostate cancer screening for the vast majority of men – despite the disease now being the most common cancer in men.
The six-time Olympic gold medallist, 49, revealed in 2024 that his own prostate cancer had spread to his bones and that doctors had given him between two and four years to live. Since then, he has used his status as one of Britain’s greatest sporting heroes to plead for earlier testing in the hope that other men might avoid the fate he now faces.
But on Friday the UK National Screening Committee confirmed it would not recommend population-wide screening using the PSA (prostate specific antigen) blood test, arguing that rolling it out to all men “is likely to cause more harm than good”.
In a strongly worded statement, Sir Chris said he was “extremely disappointed and saddened by the recommendation announced by the National Screening Committee today to rule against national screening for men at high risk of prostate cancer”. He stressed that more than 12,000 men die from prostate cancer every year and that it is now the UK’s most common cancer in men, with black men at double the risk, along with men who have a family history of the disease like he does.
The committee has instead only backed screening for men who carry BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations, suggesting they should be offered checks every two years between the ages of 45 and 61. Sir Chris welcomed that as “a very small step forward” but insisted “it is not enough”.
He pointed out that his own diagnosis has already helped save lives. “I know first hand that by sharing my story following my own diagnosis two years ago, many, many lives have been saved. Early screening and diagnosis saves lives,” he said, making clear he believes the burden is being unfairly shifted onto men and their families.
“Without a national screening programme, the responsibility to find prostate cancer early and in time for a cure rests entirely on men’s shoulders, and it shouldn’t be this way. Black men are at double the risk of prostate cancer and twice as likely to die, and something has to be done,” he added.
Sir Chris vowed he will not back down, saying he is “determined to continue to use my platform to raise awareness, encourage open discussion, raise vital funds for further research and support, and to campaign for change”.
He is not the only sporting legend demanding a rethink. England’s 1966 World Cup hero Sir Geoff Hurst said it should be “mandatory” for all men over 45 to be tested for prostate cancer. “I have known many people to suffer with prostate cancer and, given correct testing and early enough testing, they could’ve been furnished with a much better outcome,” he said. “So the results that they have have gone some way towards helping, but I think it would’ve been better if all men over 45 could be tested.”
Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal, who revealed in 2022 that he had undergone successful treatment for prostate cancer, warned that the sheer number of men affected should force governments to act. “Every country has its own norms and values, but the statistics are also important. I think many men suffer from prostate cancer, that should be a reason to at least institute a screening test for prostate cancer,” he said.
Ex-England striker Les Ferdinand, 58, whose grandfather died from the disease, added that his own family’s experience proves the power of catching it in time. He said he has seen relatives survive prostate cancer “because their cancer was found in time” – and believes leaving the onus on men to demand tests will cost lives that could have been saved.
For now, the UKNSC will wait for data from a major new trial launched by Prostate Cancer UK to see whether combining PSA with other tests could justify screening more men. But for Sir Chris Hoy and the other sporting greats urging action, that feels like a decision that has come far too late for too many.