'Black men should get tested for prostate cancer'

Suzgo Nyirenda, who has prostate cancer, is calling for other black men to be tested for the disease

A man living with prostate cancer is calling for other black men to come forward and get tested for the disease.

Suzgo Nyirenda from Aylesford, Kent, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2017.

The 82-year-old said that black men are often unaware that ethnicity is a risk factor, alongside age and family history.

"Please get examined, especially if you are black," he said.

"Get the x-rays, get the CT scan, whatever. Get your body looked at."

Mr Nyirenda said he would not be alive today if not for the treatment he had at Maidstone Hospital.

"This cancer affects virtually everything in your system," he said. "Get the medical opinion on your body - it's your body, you need to look after it."

Research shows that black men have a 25% chance of being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Catching it early

Asian men have a much lower risk, with one in 13 men developing prostate cancer, while white men have a one in eight risk.

It is not understood why there is a difference in risk among different ethnic groups but experts say it could be linked to genetics.

Dr Kathryn Lees, consultant clinical oncologist at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, said: "Black men are not at greater risk of dying from their prostate cancer if they're diagnosed at the same stage [as other men].

"But they often present later and therefore potentially have a greater risk of having more problems."

Dr Kathryn Lees, consultant clinical oncologist, said black men potentially have a greater risk of having more problems

Keith Morgan, from Prostate Cancer UK, said: "If you are black and have a father or brother who has had prostate cancer, particularly if their cancer was diagnosed before the age of 60, then you are at even higher risk.

"Black men are also more likely to be diagnosed at a younger age and sometimes with more aggressive disease.

"You have to be the CEO of your own health, so that means you have to take ownership of [your risk] of developing this disease given you know now your chance of getting it is one in four."