Sir Cliff Richard says he has been treated for prostate cancer | UK News

Sir Cliff Richard says he has been treated for prostate cancer for the past year.

The 85-year-old singer said his cancer had “gone at the moment” and backed calls for a national screening test for men.

In an interview with Good Morning Britain, he said: “I was about to embark on a tour… I was going to Australia and New Zealand, and the promoter said ‘well we need your insurance, so you’ll need to be checked up for something’.

“They found I had a prostate with cancer, but the good fortune was, it was not very old. And the other thing is that it had not metastasized. It hadn’t moved into bones or anything like that.

“And the cancer’s gone at the moment, I don’t know whether it’s going to come back. I mean you can’t tell with those sort of things, but we need to absolutely, I’m convinced, get there, get tested, get checked.

“I think we as men… we’ve got to be seen as human beings who may die of this thing.”

Sir Cliff made the revelation in conversation with former Sky News presenter, Dermot Murnaghan, who has himself been diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer.

Mr Murnaghan asked the singer whether he backed calls for a national prostate cancer screening programme, given that the disease is “the most prevalent cancer amongst men”.

Lending his support, Sir Cliff replied: “We have governments to look after our country and those who live in that country. We all deserve to have the same ability to have a test and then start the treatments really early.

“It’s only been one year now I’ve been in touch with cancer, but in point of fact, every time I’ve talked with anybody, this has come up, and so I think our government must listen to us.”

It comes after King Charles revealed he had reached a “milestone” in his own fight with cancer, and would be able to reduce his schedule of treatment in the new year.

He credited the “personal blessing” to early diagnosis when he announced the news on Friday.

He said: “Early diagnosis quite simply saves lives.

“Now, I have heard this message repeatedly during my visits to cancer centres across the country. I know, too, what a difference it has made in my own case, enabling me to continue leading a full and active life, even while undergoing treatment.

“Today, I am able to share with you the good news that thanks to early diagnosis, effective intervention and adherence to ‘doctors’ orders’, my own schedule of cancer treatment can be reduced in the new year.”

He continued: “This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care in recent years; testimony that I hope may give encouragement to the 50% of us who will be diagnosed with the illness at some point in our lives.”

Read more:
King ‘deeply touched’ by reaction to cancer ‘good news’
NHS to offer same-day prostate cancer diagnosis

Buckingham Palace has not revealed what kind of cancer the king has, though it is confirmed not to be prostate cancer.

Mr Murnaghan asked Sir Cliff whether his own charitable efforts could be co-ordinated with the king’s on the issue of early screening.

The pop icon replied: “I’m sure! I mean, why not? I’ve been involved with many charities over the years, and if the king is happy to front it for us, I’m sure loads of people… I certainly would join him, I’m sure you would.

“If the king is listening, then I’m sure most of us would say, yeah, we’re available.”

Last month the UK National Screening Committee decided not to recommend mass screening for prostate cancer, saying the measure was “likely to cause more harm than good”.

Instead, it proposes a targeted screening programme every two years for men with specific genetic mutations, known as BRCA-1 and BRCA-2, between the ages of 45 and 61.

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