JAKARTA - Former British Prime Minister David Cameron admitted that he had undergone prostate cancer treatment. This admission was conveyed in an interview with The Times daily while at the same time encouraging the importance of a special screening program for high-risk men.
This 59-year-old man said that his wife Samantha was the first person to encourage him to do tests. He underwent a specific antigen prostate (PSA) examination, which is a blood test to see protein levels related to prostate cancer.
His PSA test results showed a fairly high number. Even so, Cameron tried to keep his thinking positive.
"We always wish the best," he said, quoted from the CNN page.
However, a series of follow-up examinations including MRI which showed some suspicious signs, certainly made him even more vigilant. Certainties come when the biopsy results show prostate cancer.
Cameron said the moment he received the news was one of the most feared.
"When the doctor starts talking, I already know what he's going to say. And when those words come out, you can only think, 'Oh my God, it really happened,'" he said.
Cameron then underwent a focal therapy, a treatment method that uses needles to provide electrical pulses that destroy cancer cells without major surgery.
This personal experience encourages him to support a more targeted screening program. According to him, the development of medical technology currently makes screening for high-risk groups more important to prevent cases of prostate cancer that are detected late.
About 11% of men are expected to be diagnosed with prostate cancer throughout their lives, and about 2.5% die from this disease. Even so, most prostate cancer grows very slowly and often does not require treatment.
This is what makes some experts skeptical of mass screening, because the risk of misdiagnosis and unnecessary treatment. But Cameron agrees with the Prostate Cancer Research organization that screening focused on high-risk men can provide great benefits, especially with the support of the latest medical technology such as therapy he is undergoing.
"The situation is changing, his argument has also changed. It's the right time to review again," Cameron told The Times.
Now, sitting as a member of the House of Lords, Cameron plans to use his position to encourage change.
"I have a stage to voice this. We need to think about, talk about and if necessary, take action." he said.
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