Nick Ferrari shares his experience getting tested for prostate cancer amid calls for UK to ramp up routine screening

28 March 2025, 08:51

Calls on the UK to ramp up testing for prostate cancer are growing as LBC Presenter Nick Ferrari visits Cromwell Hospital in West London to get tested for the disease.

It comes following the passing of Formula One legend Eddie Jordan who died, aged 76, earlier this month after battling prostate and bladder cancer, which had spread to his spine and pelvis.

Public awareness around the disease has also increased since the announcement by six-time Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy, who revealed last year that his prostate cancer had been diagnosed as terminal and that he had been given between two and four years to live.

During his visit to Cromwell Hospital, Nick met with Professor Hashim Ahmed - the man leading a potentially game-changing trial for Prostate Cancer UK which hopes to find the best way to diagnose prostate cancer early to enable a national screening programme to be put in place.

Read more: The most common cancer in England still has no screening for men at highest risk. The rules have got to change

Read more: Formula One legend Eddie Jordan dies aged 76 following cancer battle

Currently the NHS does not offer routine testing for prostate cancer despite calls to do so.

There is mounting pressure on the Health Service to change its guidance with experts pointing to the importance of early diagnosis when it comes to saving lives.

Professor Ahmed told Nick about how his TRANSFORM programme will look to kick government into action.

"I think the debate is raging at the moment. There are proponents of screening and there are people who are still very concerned about the harms of screening overweighing those benefits. What I say to people is support the (TRANSFORM) trial, because the only way I think we can square this argument is to get new evidence", he told LBC.

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The £42 million trial is being developed in consultation, and with the backing of, the NHS, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the UK Government, who have committed to contribute £16 million.

"If we started screening now, the NHS would shatter under the weight of cases coming through. We need to start the investment now. Scanners, urologists, oncologists, radiologists, pathologists. There's such a huge amount to do that if we don't start to think about it now, we will have problems even a decade down the line", Professor Ahmed told LBC.

Data from the NHS in England revealed in January 2025 shows that 50,751 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in England in 2022, and 55,033 men in 2023.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK and is now the most common cancer in England.

Tune in to Nick Ferrari at Breakfast from 7 on LBC to catch Nick's visit to Cromwell Hospital and hear the result from his prostate cancer test.

Nick Ferrari is proud to be an ambassador for Prostate Cancer UK.