'My brother was diagnosed with cancer, then I was'

Glenn and Russell Wood both underwent successful prostate cancer treatment at The Christie

"When my brother told me he had prostate cancer, it absolutely floored me. So then to be told I had the same thing was a shock."

Russell Wood, 66, had only gone to get tested for cancer because his brother Glenn had encouraged him to do so after his own diagnosis.

A month apart the family now faced cancer treatment for two siblings.

Glenn, 61, says he had been to the GP after starting to wake up in the night up to six times to urinate.

But Russell had no symptoms at all.

"I really wasn't expecting it," he says. "I'm so glad Glenn encouraged me to get tested, because otherwise I'd have had cancer and not known."

After successful treatment at The Christie in Manchester, both men are urging others to get checked, with Glenn saying: "If I had put off going to the doctor any longer, my cancer might not have been as treatable as it was – and that doesn't bear thinking about."

The brothers, from Wigan, supported each other through the treatment after the initial diagnosis in September last year.

Glenn's cancer was found to be aggressive and he immediately underwent hormone therapy and radiotherapy.

But Russell's cancer was caught earlier, meaning he could be treated with radiotherapy alone.

Russell, a retired air systems engineer and grandfather-of-five, who had his last radiotherapy session in May, told BBC Radio Manchester: "We wouldn't be having this conversation now if it wasn't for my brother."

He said he was glad they were both diagnosed so close together "as we've known what each other was going through and could support one another".

"Russ came to watch me ring the bell at the end of treatment, and I went to watch him – it was emotional for both of us," says Glenn, a vehicle engineer from Tyldesley.

Glenn and Russell Wood said they wanted to thank Dr Serra and everyone at The Christie "for what they've done for us", adding "they're all amazing, and we couldn't have been in safer hands".

Their consultant at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Dr Maria Serra says it is the first time she has treated two siblings at the same time.

She urged men to be aware of symptoms "including peeing more frequently, especially at night, needing to rush to the toilet, and difficulty starting to pee" and to speak to their GP if they are worried.

Glenn says he had gone to see a doctor as he "knew something wasn't right".

He has since been raising awareness about prostate cancer and nearly two thirds of his colleagues are going to get checked as a result.

"Men are rubbish at speaking up when something's wrong, and that needs to change," he says.