A qick follow up on my situation. My PSA was 18 pre treatment and is now 0.2 on the first check up so it looks good for me at the moment.
I tend to read a lot around this subject and this came up

According to the American Cancer Society, the five-year survival rate of men who were diagnosed when the cancer was confined to the prostate or the immediate area is nearly 100 percent; once it has spread, it's 34 percent.

It is a figure I had not come across before but really does emphasis the importance of early diagnosis and that comes with screening.

Another interesting aspect is that there is a racial element involved with Afro Carribean men

Black men in the United States die from prostate cancer at a rate 140% higher than men of any other racial or ethnic group. This is the largest racial disparity for any type of cancer.

I do not know how it stands in this country.

Down to 0.2 from 18 !! That's great, hope things continue to go well for you jimnic

Thank you for that. It is a good start but there are another 5 years to go before I can be said to be free of this cancer. It is such a long term thing that it is not something that dominates your life, at least that is how it is for me. It would be different if it ever shows signs of returning. I suppose this goes for all cancers really.
I want to stop others, especially my sons, being in the position of having to wait for symptoms to show. This can be too late for treatment sometimes. I do not want them to have to be arguing with a doctor who still believes in the fallacy that it only affects old men. I have tried to relate more about what happens with this cancer and the problems of getting diagnosed in a thread on Bob Monkhouse. For some reason the moderators will only allow the thread title up, which is rather pointless. The content should be accessible or the thread not allowed up at all to make any sense. Ah well that is life.

Thank you for your support Donna the drop is a good start but there are still several years to go before knowing if the treatment has worked. Essentially if I am still around in 5 years with no problems around the PSA numbers I will be deemed to have been cured. It is a long wait and to be honest I only remember the cancer around check up times or when feeling very exhausted, an unpleasant side effect of hormone treatment.

There are only two weeks left to sign the petition for screening. I will come back after that time to post the government response. Please sign it if you have not done so already.

I have already signed it, but will check back in a few weeks to see if you've posted a government response fingers crossed !!

Hello folks sorry for the delay while this site was sorting itself out.

The government response can be read on

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/psa-testing/

I am not happy with this response nor are a lot of others. One such has started up a second, perhaps more achievable, petition asking for Government and Charities to make improve the level of information around about prostate cancer and to let people know that they are entitled to ask their GP for screening and to get this. Presently too many GPs will refuse this. The poor levels of information are dangerous. My GP surgery for instance has only two posters around prostate cancer because I got them put up during the awareness week back in March. Yes there was one but it passed most people by as the media did not really pick up on it. My local cancer charity shops have loads of posters up, but NONE of them mention prostate cancer. I have written to them and had no reply.

The alternate petition can be found on

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/PSA-Awareness/

Please also sign this one if only to let the Government know that this issue is not going to go away. There is a new specific test around but it is not going to be used for screening as it costs £200 a go. This one involves manipulation of the prostate before providing a urine sample which is then tested. Ideally this should be used in tandem with the PSA test as the PSA provides an indication of whether cancer exists and then the new one confirms or not. We remain though in a situation where your doctors bias can decide if you get the chance to outlive this cancer. I really do want screening and will continue to this happens. I want my sons to have a very good chance of catching the cancer early rather than sitting around waiting for symptoms. This alternate petition provides a comprimise that moves things along.

PS The England Rugby player Andy Ripley is having a book released that relates his story of living with prostate cancer and a diagnosis made through pure chance. It should never be a matter of pure chance to be diagnosed.

You can read the big difference between awareness weeks in Britain, almost ignored, and America via this link. This is an example of what is needed in this country to bring down the death toll. This cancer kills you if you do not get an early diagnosis. Get and early diagnosis and you outlive it simple really.

http://www.cancercompass.com:80/cancer-news/1,13215,00.htm?c=1004:5:1:2

The Prostate Cancer Charity Awareness Week is 10th-16th March.
If it is anything like prior years the media will, on the whole, ignore this. Unlike breast cancer awareness weeks.

As a sideline some hacker brought down the message boards which so many of us with this cancer rely on. This was just about sticking his tag on the site. The fact that we have a woman with father dying at the moment and needing a lot of support through some unpleasant aspects of medical negligence was not important to this (insert your own word)

If you wish to promote more awareness of this pretty much ignored cancer then there is a petition.
It is just part of letting the government know that men will not just carry one dying quietly with this cancer because they are not getting early enough diagnosis.

M y son is 21yrs and his grandfather died from Prostate Cancer many years ago now and i would like to know can my son be screened  for Prostate as his father was told had they caught it ealier they might have been abke to treat him,If he can be screened now where would he need to go???

Pepe

Your son is too young for now. The time to look for testing is around 50 for most men and around 40 for those with a family history or afro carribean origin. At the moment you have to go and ask (sometimes argue with) your GP for a PSA blood test. There is newish system around that is becoming more available using a test strip and takes only a moment.

I have signed this petition.  For those who are suffering from prostate cancer can I ask you to look into LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone).  It boosts the level of endorphins in your body as well as regulates the immune system rather than suppressing it.  It eliminates 30% of cancers and halts progression of 70%.  There are currently 3,000+ people taking it in the UK with very positive results.  If you google lowdosenaltrexone you will find information on this.  Hope you find it helpful.

I had my first PSA when I was about 52 and found to have elevated levels ,was sent to hospital for more tests and fortunately given the all clear.I now have annual blood test for PSA readings which this year threw the numbers back up again,once again more tests followed and all clear given again.Surely this proves how important 1 simple blood test is needed.I have been fortunate that the numbers going up is an anomaly within my own body,but how many men are walking around totally unaware of what may be happening in their own bodies.

 I believe that all men of 50 and over whether showing symptons or not should be given the test the same as women are tested for breast cancer,look what that has done to reduce breast cancer in women.

Has anybody heard of Rene.M.Cassie and her herbal treatment called ESSIAC. T for the treatment of malignant and other cancer types. My friend has tried it and it has worked for him. Although this is not a open claim by me for a cure, but a pointer for what possibly could help many sufferers.

 i hope this is of some use to cancer sufferers