Support and information for people affected by prostate cancer
Leeds Prostate Cancer Support Group (LPCSG) is a patient-led voluntary group supporting people affected by prostate cancer, together with partners, relatives and friends.
If you have recently been diagnosed, you may find our Tests Available, Treatment and Treatment Pathways pages helpful. Personal experiences are available on our Stories page, and our Buddy System offers one-to-one peer support.
Know your prostate cancer risk
Prostate cancer often causes no symptoms in its early stages. Age, family history and ethnicity can affect risk. See our Risks page and use the prostate cancer risk checker available from the site menu.
If you are concerned about your risk or symptoms, speak to your GP. For current information about PSA testing, see our Tests Available page.
Independent specialist support
Prostate Cancer UK Specialist Nurses provide free, confidential information and support on 0800 074 8383, Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm (Wednesday 10am–5pm).
For other trusted organisations and support services, see our Links page.
About LPCSG
LPCSG grew from a patient-based voluntary group established in 1998 by Kathy Gould and Liz Hudson, a Senior Uro Oncology Research Nurse. George Albertano, Ron Browne and Jerry Taylor subsequently helped develop the group, enabling it to continue supporting people affected by prostate cancer and those close to them.
We hold meetings with informative speakers and provide peer support through members with personal experience of prostate cancer and its treatments. Peer support complements, but does not replace, advice from healthcare professionals.
If you would like to join us or find out more, please get in touch or phone 07507 494913 and leave a message.
This website provides general information and peer support. Medical questions about your individual diagnosis, tests or treatment should be discussed with your healthcare team.
A MOST useful comment from David…..
Being diagnosed with any form of Cancer, however young or old you are, does not necessarily mean the end of your personal life expectancy. At first it can be a big shock when you are told by a Specialist Oncology Nurse or Consultant that you have been diagnosed with this medical condition, especially waiting for your results after blood tests, various scans and biopsy results. There can be fear of the unknown in terms of how serious your Cancer is, and what part of the your body it has formed in ? How it is going to affect your everyday life and the loved ones around you. The question , how you are going to deal with it ? The next anxiety is what happens next? Then, i.e. the treatment options and the side and after effects that comes with your medical condition.
The first step is Acceptance, rather than being in denial ? Now you have accepted that you have Cancer [or your medical condition] you can now move on with the treatment [s] etc with a more rationalised view.
Top Priority is POSITIVITY [try your best to have this attitude] It will certainly help moving forward, and it will enable loved ones to have the same attitude towards you .
Don’t be afraid to talk about it, but be patient with loved ones as they may not accept your medical condition, as good as you, as they may be worried about you.
Rather than…fearing what if ??….focus on what is !!
If you are able to, read carefully all the information [possibly with a loved one] that you are given to you by Oncology Specialist Nurses, it may be uncomfortable and you may have anxious moments continuing to read on. but perseverance is key! Read it all again and treatments will possibly, not as frightening. Don’t be afraid or hesitant to ASK any questions that you have,, you will feel better and less anxious.
See Cancer as an unwelcome guest, rather than cellular invasion of your body
Try and Prepare yourself for the holistic journey ahead of you [with help from medical professionals from medical professionals] This will help with any anxieties and doubts in dealing with Cancer as you progress with treatments etc.
When the going gets tough in life, the tough [in life] get going [with help from loved ones]
Self belief that you can overcome Cancer rather than the Cancer overcoming you ….. please be STRONG.
Mental toughness in adversity rather than worrying about your medical condition.
Try your best to continue with everyday life, rather than thinking of the future or the outcome of your Cancer.
As you progress, you may ,actually be able mention the word Cancer ! ?
Keep thinking of your FAVOURITE things and pastimes in your life [even in possible down times]
Focus on what you want to continue and achieve in your life, rather than believing that life has to be temporarily on hold.
Try your best to SMILE 😄 and keep your sense of HUMOUR 🙌🙌 !!
Try and be resilient and be determined to get better [even in when you may not feel at your best] Remember ! there will be patients worse off than yourself !
Be patient whilst awaiting treatment and the road to your RECOVERY !
Have FAITH in the NHS. professionals in Hospitals, i.e. Specialist Oncology nurses and consultants and surgeons and associated services, e.g. care services and mental health professionals
YOUR life is in THEIR hands [NHS professionals !
Take strength from other people who have recovered from Cancer [wife/husband, partner ,close family members, friend , work colleagues etc.
N.B. draw strength from babies, young , children and teenagers who go through hours of surgery and months of treatments who RECOVER ! babies and younger children have n’t got the FEAR factor unlike teenagers and adults and are SO RESILIENT !
Another interesting talk – old but still pertinent.
BBC Radi 4 Four Thought of 07/08/2013 Andrew Graystone
An update on the very useful work of the Medical Detection Dogs. One of our recent speakers.
See this link
https://bbc.co.uk/news/health-45997000
Ray has kindly brought to my attention this bit of news….
University Hospital Birmingham team pioneer cancer gene therapy
By Michele Paduano BBC Midlands health correspondent
Doctors at University Hospital of Birmingham NHS Trust have been working on the project for 15 years
Doctors in Birmingham have started a trial of a new gene therapy treatment they hope will help fight prostate cancer.
Injected directly into the tumour it is is designed to stimulate the body’s own immune system.
Bernard Ward, 68, from Birmingham was the first patient in the world to receive the new procedure.
He is one of 20 patients taking part in the first phase of a trial by University Hospitals Birmingham.
The initial trial is designed to establish whether the treatment is safe for clinical use.
Mr Ward has suffered from prostate cancer for six years and standard treatments are no longer working.
“I just hope it works. I don’t have any choice but to try this treatment because I haven’t got anything else,” he said.
Under general anaesthetic, urology specialist Prashant Patel injected Mr Ward with a virus, engineered from the common cold, directly into the prostate cancer tumour.
A gene attached to the virus (GM-CSF) is then released by the virus which activates the body’s own immune system attracting white blood cells to attack the cancer.
At the same time the virus carries an enzyme – nitroreductase – which sits inside the cancer cell.
Two days after the injection, Mr Ward will be put on a drip which contains a cancer drug (CB1954), which is initially inactive. However, when the drug comes into contact with the enzyme, it reacts and starts killing the cancer cells.
Bernard Ward
Bernard Ward was the first patient to receive the new treatment
‘Like moon landings’
The inactive drug, CB1954, does not harm healthy cells, which do not have the enzyme inside.
It has taken 15 years of work at the University of Birmingham to engineer the project to make the treatment and get approval for the first human trial from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.
In studies on mice, the treatment, developed by the Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit, managed to completely eradicate the prostate cancer.
Mr Patel is hopeful that it could provide real hope for patients who are running out of treatment options.
He said: “I have to stress that this is only a phase one safety trial to test that there are no side effects. However, we are excited by this.”
His colleague Richard Viney compared the complexity of the work so far to the moon landings.
“There has been a huge team of people and a huge number of tiny details to sort out to get to this point,” he said.
“If this works, 15 to 20 years from now, we could be using the patient’s own immune system in this way to fight early onset prostate cancer so that patients won’t need painful treatments or even surgery.”