Wolves have joined forces with Prostate Cancer UK after the charity launched a new initiative to help men navigate the disease, in response to worrying new research showing widespread misconceptions among men in the midlands.
Ahead of Men’s Health Week and Father’s Day, the largest men’s health charity is working to bust common myths and misconceptions, by sharing clear and accurate health information to help dads, brothers, sons and friends make the right choices when it comes to their health - with potentially lifesaving results.
A new study released this week by Prostate Cancer UK for its ’What on Earth is a prostate?!’ campaign - which surveyed over 2,000 men aged 18+ across the UK on their knowledge of the prostate and prostate cancer - has highlighted the need for continued and heightened efforts to ensure men have the facts they need to understand their risk of the disease.
Almost three quarters (74%) of midlands men surveyed did not know what the prostate does, and 56% did not know where it was in their body. This unfamiliarity with the prostate carried through to dangerous misconceptions about the most common cancer in men.
A man’s risk of prostate cancer increases if they are aged over 50, Black and over 45, or have a family history of the disease. But worryingly over three quarters (83%) of midlands men did not think a man’s ethnicity increased his risk of prostate cancer,55% did not realise having a family history of it could increase a man’s risk, and more than half (59%) did not know age is a risk factor.
Men can find out if they are at higher risk of prostate cancer – and what they can do about it – by using Prostate Cancer UK’s 30-second online risk checker at prostatecanceruk.org/riskcheck.
Wolves have supported the work of Prostate Cancer UK for many years, most recently joining Prostate FC, the biggest club in football taking on the most common cancer in men. They also hosted the finale of the midlands Football March at Molineux in September.
Their former midfielder Steve Daley was there to present the medals that day having come through his own prostate cancer diagnosis.
In the midlands, it’s estimated that nearly 80,000 men – more than two and a half times the capacity of Molineux - are living with prostate cancer, with more than 6,500 more men being diagnosed each year on average. Over 2,000 men in the area die from the disease each year.
Crucially, prostate cancer is treatable if caught early. But new figures show that just over a third 34% of midlands men realise that early-stage prostate cancer often has no symptoms, while 39% think it will show symptoms or signs always or most of the time.
Chiara De Biase, director of support & influencing at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “Men’s health can be a minefield. Everyone has gaps in their knowledge and every one of us probably believes something that just isn’t true. “But what’s really worrying is that this misinformation could stop a man from getting the early diagnosis that could save his life.
“It’s especially concerning how many men believe they’ll see signs of early stage prostate cancer and would avoid speaking to their GP if they didn’t have symptoms, when we know that prostate cancer doesn’t usually have any symptoms at all until it’s already spread and become incurable.
“On top of this, far too few men know the main factors that put them at risk. That’s why we’re asking every man to take our 30-second online risk checker, to help understand their risk, and what they can do about it.
“This is especially important in the midlands, where earlier this year we highlighted the fact that more than one in six men with prostate cancer were being diagnosed at a stage where it’s too late for a cure – compared to just one in eight men living in London.”
Men can find out if they are at higher risk of prostate cancer – and what they can do about it – by using Prostate Cancer UK’s 30-second online risk checker at prostatecanceruk.org/riskcheck.
