The moment when Sir Chris Hoy went public about the fact that at the age of forty-eight, he had been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer he went from "National Olympic hero" to "National Treasure" in my opinion. 

As a prostate cancer awareness charity established 20 years ago and who've been involved in helping carry out well over 300,000 PSA tests leading to over 3,200 cancer finds in that time, we've seen several spikes in awareness following similar public statements from the likes of the late Bill Turnbull and Stephen Fry, but we believe this has the potential to be the biggest game changer ever.

How can such an outstanding athlete and multiple Olympic Gold Medalist be struck down in this way, people will be asking themselves.

Sir Chris has made a very public plea for the testing age to be reduced to 45 or perhaps even 40 for men with a family history or if from an African Caribbean background because both groups of men are known to be more at risk and, indeed, this has been reinforced by the current Health Minister.  Even if this well overdue change is accepted at the top table, experience tells us its implementation is likely to be somewhat different. 

We have lots of men over fifty coming to us because their GP has refused them a PSA test, many of them with a family history of it. We appreciate all men should be counselled before undergoing a test and we have sympathy for GP's facing increasing demand for their services with stretched reserves, particularly following the once in a lifetime impact of the Covid pandemic. 

We do believe strongly however they should be giving credence to the latest research which shows conducting MRI scans before biopsies, using risk-based factors such as age, ethnicity and family history must be acknowledged. 

There are also a range of new advanced psa tests at their disposal which are showing excellent results in terms of more effective diagnosis. 

We are here to help any GP who feels working with someone like us can benefit their patients. We have access to four of the leading new advanced tests, we operate a risk-based algorithm for advice on retesting periods to avoid annual tests where possible. We work closely with Dr Asif Naseem a GP with LSDC with a specialist interest in prostate cancer who has recently helped two men with high PSA scores to get a two week referral into the NHS cancer diagnosis pathway with very timely interventions for both men who sadly had been faced with the too often heard response of "come back when you have symptoms" from their own GP. 

In addition to offering tests at a wide range of venues around the UK we offer, as a not-for-profit charity, Home Testing Kits at a very competitive price. Visit us at www.tgfct.org.uk  to find out about the charity and www.mypsatests.org.uk to book on an event or order a home testing kit.

Let us make sure between us all we put the bravery of Sir Chris Hoy's public statement up there with his remarkable Olympic exploits.

Graham Fulford MBE Founder and Trustee of GFCT Ltd