Geoff Hurst lends support to prostate cancer campaign
pharmafile | July 3, 2008 | News story | Medical Communications |Â Â patientsÂ
A new campaign highlighting the inequality of treatment in men with prostate cancer has been launched with the help of England football hero Geoff Hurst.
It aims to raise awareness of the fact that 7 out of 10 men with advanced prostate cancer do not receive chemotherapy despite being eligible for treatment.
The '7 out of 10' campaign is being funded by Sanofi-Aventis, the company behind Taxotere, a NICE-approved drug used to treat the disease.
Launching the campaign, Sir Geoff Hurst, MBE, whose hat trick famously won the 1966 World Cup Final for England, said: "Like any footballer, luck as well as skill has played a part in my success. There are some who would argue that were it not for a fortunate decision by the linesman on my second goal in the final in 1966, England might not have gone on to win the World Cup.
"However when it comes to your health, none of us want to take any chances and so that is why I am backing this campaign. It is important that men with this disease, which is the most common cancer in British men, know all their options so they can make informed decisions and get the best possible care they can."
To illustrate the '7 out of 10' statistic he was joined by 10 men, including seven dressed only in underwear bearing the campaign's distinctive dice logo and the slogan "Access to prostate cancer care shouldn't be left to chance".
An early day motion supporting the '7 out of 10' campaign and sponsored by Howard Stoate MP, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Men's Health, has been laid down in Parliament.
MPs and Lords are also being encouraged to ask Parliamentary questions and write to their local NHS Trusts inquiring about patients being offered all treatment options, including chemotherapy, in line with NICE guidelines.
Around 35,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year, making it the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men in the UK. It kills around 10,000 men every year, or 27 every day, placing it second only to lung cancer as the most common cancer killer of men.
Almost half of the 10,000 fatal prostate cancer cases involve metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer (mHRPC).
This is an advanced stage of the disease at which the tumour initially stops responding to hormone therapy, but there are further treatment options, including bone-targeted therapies, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
It is thought that almost half of the 10,000 men who die from mHRPC each year may have been fit enough to receive chemotherapy, yet in 2007 only 1,421 patients actually received chemotherapy, leaving seven in 10 who missed out on this treatment option.
John Anderson, consultant urologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, said: "There are major differences across the country which means many men with advanced prostate cancer patients are not being offered the full range of treatments.
"Access to prostate cancer care should not be left to chance. We need to encourage better shared care across the country and for medical teams to work more closely together, so all patients are fully aware of their options."
In 2002 NICE said all patients with urological cancers should be managed by multi-disciplinary urological cancer teams, but it seems this guideline is not being universally implemented.
NICE's Guideline Development Group recently stated that management of men who develop biochemical evidence of hormone refractory disease was not usually discussed at multi-disciplinary team meetings.
Related Content
The Pharma Files: with Dr Ewen Cameron, Chief Executive of West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
Pharmafile chats with Dr Ewen Cameron, Chief Executive of West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, about …
University of Sheffield trial highlights immunotherapy-related improved survival rates for bladder cancer patients
The University of Sheffield, UK, have announced study results for its trial into the survival …
NHS England threatened legal action against Oxford University hospitals trust
NHS England threatened to sue Oxford University hospitals (OUH) NHS trust after they objected to …
