New Velindre Cancer Centre team get prostate cancer aware

Prostate Cymru’s Dai Johns visited the new Velindre Cancer Centre (nVCC) project site to deliver a series of talks on how to recognise and prevent prostate cancer.

Dai, now 70, was diagnosed with prostate cancer aged 56 during a clinical trial he took part in because he had a family history of the disease. He thought it would be a simple screening procedure, however when a doctor called and told him he had a high prostate-specific antigen (PSA blood test result, he was told to return to the doctors as soon as possible. 

Two weeks later, with the help of robotic surgical equipment, he had an operation to remove the cancer and has been completely disease free for the past 15 years.

Dai now travels around Wales for the charity Prostate Cymru to give impassioned and informative talks on prostate cancer and the early warning signs to look out for. 

In Wales alone, more than 2,500 men are diagnosed annually with the disease, with around 1 in 8 men diagnosed in their lifetime. This increases to 1 in 3 for those with a family history. It is the most common form of cancer for men, with more than 12,000 dying from the disease annually.

“Most men who don’t die from it, die with it” Dai said when asked about the projection rate for men who have prostate cancer aged 50 and over.  

Dai said that he really enjoyed chatting to the Sacyr UK team: “After delivering nearly 500 sessions. I can confidently say these at nVCC were two of the best sessions I have held.”

Men from across the site were invited to down tools, enjoy some refreshments, kindly provided by sub-contractor Sphere Solutions, and hear from Dai about the signs to look out for. 

For more information about prostate cancer, Prostate Cymru offers a free health assessment here: https://www.prostatecymru.com/prostate-health-assessment/. 

If you are concerned about your prostate health, contact your GP or call Prostate Cancer UK’s free helpline on  0800 7747560.