‘No man should die’: Dad with prostate cancer recommended ‘active surveillance’ says gut told him to push for treatment

A father-of-two with prostate cancer who was recommended “active surveillance” but had a gut feeling that he should push for treatment has said “no man should die from (the disease) if we catch it early”.

Jason Yeo, 54, a travelling sales manager from Devon, was shocked to discover he had prostate cancer in April 2024 after a routine health check and prostate specific antigen (PSA) tests, as he was healthy, sporty and “symptomless”.

At first, he said he was told to “watch and wait” by his GP due to his cancer being low-grade, before medics recommended “active surveillance” – but this caused significant “mental anguish” for him and his family.

After pushing for further tests, he said the cancer was found to be “more aggressive” than initially diagnosed, but with support from the charity Prost8, he was able to undergo cryotherapy, a treatment not widely available in the UK.

With around 12,000 prostate cancer deaths in the UK every year, according to Cancer Research UK, Jason has launched his own Kick Prostate Cancer into Touch campaign, and he wants to “push for a national testing programme”.

He is passionate about raising awareness and early detection and wants to encourage men aged over 50 to swallow their pride, ask for help and get tested.

“I don’t have that medical expertise, I just had my gut feel that said, ‘this isn’t right’, and my wife and my dad saying, ‘don’t take that as an answer’,” Jason told PA Real Life.

“Without those two, and Paul at Prost8, we wouldn’t be having this conversation in this way – the outcome would have been so different.

“It wouldn’t have started my campaign properly, and I’m almost certain I would have cancer that now sits outside the prostate… it was more aggressive than they initially thought it was.

“I think it should be, ‘your PSA result says you’ve got a problem, your diagnosis then goes through the different stages, you’ve got prostate cancer, let’s deal with it now’.”

According to the NHS, prostate cancer affects the prostate gland under the bladder and usually happens to men aged over 50, but it can be cured if diagnosed early.

Before his official diagnosis, Jason said he “never” went to the doctors and was “always healthy, always fit”.

“There was nothing in my lifestyle to suggest what was coming next,” he explained.

Other than asthma, Jason never had problems with his health, but he said his wife Donna bought two vouchers for a general health check-up in February 2023, with the additional purchase of a PSA test, a blood test, for him.

Jason, who has two children, Ciaran, 23, and Louis, 18, said this is when “the game changed”.

“If there were 20 different points to that test, 19 came back with a green light and one came back with a red light and said, ‘you need to take further action’, for which we will be forever grateful,” he said.

After contacting his GP and having a second PSA test, he said it was confirmed his levels were above the normal threshold.

Jason said he was told to “watch and wait” in March 2023, but his family urged him to seek a second opinion, and he paid for a private MRI scan in May that year.

This revealed Jason had an enlarged prostate, which he said was “nothing significant”, so the “watch and wait” period continued, with check-ups in between.

“At that moment in time, I’m just rolling with it,” he said.

“You have to put your complete trust in someone that’s studied for all those years… but fast forward a year to February 2024 and my PSA levels have nearly doubled.”

Jason said he was referred to the urology department at Torbay Hospital, where he had his first biopsy in April 2024.

The same month, he said he was told he had prostate cancer and he shed “many tears”.

“As we walked into that little white room, I knew I was going to be told that there was cancer there, it wasn’t just an enlarged prostate,” Jason said.

“They said, ‘It’s a low-grade score and you’re going to go on active surveillance. It’s confined within the prostate, we’re happy, and we’ll call you in once every four months for a PSA test’.”

After his diagnosis, Jason was sent a letter from Torbay Hospital in June 2024, seen by PA Real Life, which said he should continue an “active surveillance protocol”.

Jason said this waiting period caused significant “anguish” and he struggled with his mental health.

After finding the charity Prost8, founded by Paul Sayer, Jason got a referral letter for treatment from his GP, which he said was signed off in November 2024.

Jason said he then received a letter from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, which welcomed him on to a scheme for cryotherapy.

“I had a follow-up where they said: ‘Mr Yeo, we possibly owe you an apology… it’s more aggressive than Torbay or ourselves had initially thought’,” Jason said.

After biopsies and further consultations, Jason received the cryotherapy, which uses extreme cold to destroy cancer cells, in March this year at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

He said this “non-invasive” treatment, compared to a prostatectomy which removes all or part of the prostate gland, means he has not suffered side-effects such as urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction, giving him a “better quality of life”.

“The cryotherapy treatment was an absolute game-changer for me… the team were just amazing,” Jason said.

“(It’s important to know) there are other treatment options out there.”

In May 2024, a new £42 million Transform screening trial was announced, which aims to test new approaches that could more than double the impact of screening, and ultimately reduce prostate cancer deaths by up to 40%.

Jason, who is now in remission and continuing to have check-ups and PSA tests, is on his own mission to help others through awareness and early detection, with the help of football clubs around the country, from Penzance in Cornwall to Bury in Greater Manchester.

He has launched a nationwide football billboard campaign, called Kick Prostate Cancer into Touch, to encourage PSA testing for men aged over 50 – and said nearly 70 clubs, including Plymouth Argyle and Bury FC, now have signage displayed.

With extra testing, Jason hopes more men will be diagnosed earlier and lives will be saved.

“In the long term, by being proactive instead of reactive, we’re going to save the NHS money and time and so much stress and pain for families,” Jason said.

“We need to be able to research different options, different solutions – that side of it’s incredible – but early testing allows for early diagnosis, which allows for early, non-invasive treatments.

“I launched this campaign so other men and their families don’t endure the same pain.

“No man should die from prostate cancer if we catch it early.”

A spokesperson for the Peninsula Cancer Alliance said: “We can’t comment on the specifics of the case but are sorry to hear of Jason’s experience and hope that he is responding well to treatment.

“We work with all the hospitals in Devon and Cornwall to make sure that patients have access to nationally recommended investigation and treatment pathways for prostate cancer, including multiparametric MRI, template biopsy and robotic surgery where appropriate.

“While all involved in the treatment of people with prostate cancer are keen to find a way to diagnose a larger proportion of men at an early stage, there is no clear evidence that one-off or regular testing of PSA is an effective way to do this.

“We eagerly await the outcome of trials that are expected to clarify this picture and will work hard to implement any change in national guidance when this is available.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We wish Mr Yeo well with his recovery following his diagnosis.

“This Government would like to see screening in place, but the decision must be evidence-led.

“The independent UK National Screening Committee is looking at this as a priority and we will act on its advice.

“We are also working to strengthen cancer services across the NHS and investing in research to find the best possible methods to detect prostate cancer.”

NHS England, Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust were contacted but did not wish to comment further.

For more information or support, visit Prost8’s website at www.prost8.org.uk.