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rugby legend sir Ian McGeechan has announced its prostate cancer Is “all gone and down Control,” using his positive health update to advocate the introduction of a national screening programme.
The 78-year-old, now consultant director of rugby at Doncaster, is an iconic figure in the game, and his illustrious coaching career saw him lead Scotland to the Five Nations Grand Slam in the 1990s.
He also guided the British and Irish Lions to series wins in both 1989 and 1997.
During his playing days, fly-half McGeechan earned 32 caps for Scotland, captaining him nine times. He was also a key member of the victorious 1974 Lions series in South Africa and toured New Zealand with the team in 1977.
Leeds-born McGeechan shared his diagnosis in May and his subsequent treatment, which included a six-week course of radiotherapy, has provided a positive update.
“I finished treatment at the end of April and then had a follow-up test at the end of May – and the PSA (prostate-specific antigen) went down to 0.8, which effectively said it was gone,” McGeechan said on Sky News.
“So when you hear that, after hearing someone tell you, ‘You’ve got cancer’, it’s pretty special. The prostate cancer is completely gone and under control, so (I’m) happy.”
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. Prostate Cancer UK figures show that more than 63,000 men are diagnosed each year and 12,000 of them die.
Demand for annual tests is increasing, with the UK National Screening Committee currently assessing whether a prostate cancer screening program should be established.
McGeechan said, “It needs support from the government. There needs to be a screening program because prostate cancer is curable.”
“And it would be a shame if people missed the opportunity to have a scan and were asked ‘Can you, can’t you?’ “Wouldn’t be able to get a scan instead of asking.”
McGeechan said: “If someone in your family has cancer it makes sense to be able to offer screening and educate people and make them aware of some of the symptoms, because I wasn’t feeling sick, I was feeling well.”
Chiara De Biese, director of health services, equity and improvement at Prostate Cancer UK, welcomed the news of McGeechan’s recovery and also stressed the need for a screening programme.
“Today, the responsibility for knowing if you are at risk and taking action rests squarely on men, this has to change – too many men are dying,” Buysse said in a statement to the PA news agency.
“We are urgently awaiting a decision from the National Screening Committee on a screening program that can help, but we need the government to act now and work with us to deliver an effective prostate cancer early detection program for men from all walks of life across the UK.”