Feargal Sharkey reveals prostate cancer diagnosis

Singer and environmentalist Feargal Sharkey has revealed he was diagnosed with cancer last year after visiting his doctor to seek treatment for a sore throat.

The water campaigner told the Daily Express the health issue was “resolved” a year ago, and urged other men to get tested.

“My doctor, being the beautiful, wonderful, awkward, cantankerous old man that he is, went, ‘Oh Feargal, by the way, you’re 65 now, I’m going to run the full battery of tests, ‘” he said.

“Two days later, it turns out, I began a journey which led to the [diagnosis] of prostate cancer.”

In 2022, some 50,751 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in England.

In a direct appeal to the public, Sharkey urged men to stay informed about their health options.

“Now, for one in eight of you, you will be put in the same journey I’ve had, and it’s quite astonishing to think that in this country right now, one in eight men have prostate cancer,” he said.

“Most of them don’t even know it. So go and have the blood test and if you’re lucky, you’ll walk away.”

Doctors have a range of tests for diagnosing prostate cancer.

These include a physical examination of the prostate (known as a digital rectal examination, or DRE), blood tests, biopsies and MRI scans.

Men may be offered a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test to look for markers in the blood.

The PSA test is not used in routine NHS screening because it is not yet reliable enough to detect prostate cancer that needs treatment.

However, men over 50 can ask their GP for a PSA test.