Rugby legend Sir Ian McGeechan has announced his prostate cancer is "all gone and under control," using his positive health update to champion the introduction of a national screening programme.
The 78-year-old, a consultant director of rugby at Doncaster, is a revered figure in the sport, and his illustrious coaching career saw him lead Scotland to the Five Nations Grand Slam in 1990.
He also guided the British and Irish Lions to series victories in both 1989 and 1997.
During his playing days, McGeechan, a fly-half, earned 32 caps for Scotland, captaining nine times. He was also a key member of the victorious 1974 Lions series in South Africa and toured New Zealand with the side in 1977.
Leeds-born McGeechan shared his diagnosis in May and following treatment, which included a six-week course of radiotherapy, has provided a positive update.
“I finished the treatment at the end of April and then had a follow-up test at the end of May – and the PSA (Prostate-specific antigen) was down to 0.8, which effectively said it’s gone,” McGeechan said on Sky News.
“So when you hear that, after having heard somebody say to you, ‘You have got cancer’, it’s quite special. The prostate cancer is all gone and under control, so (I am) delighted.”
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. Figures from Prostate Cancer UK show more than 63,000 men are diagnosed every year and 12,000 of those will die.
There have been growing calls for annual tests, with the UK National Screening Committee currently assessing whether a prostate cancer screening programme should be set up.
“It needs that support from government. There has to be a screening programme because prostate cancer is recoverable,” McGeechan said.
“And it would be a great shame if people miss that opportunity to have a scan and not just be able to have it there rather than be asking ‘Can you, can’t you?'”
McGeechan added: “If you have got cancer in the family then it just makes sense to be able to offer that screening and just educate people and make them aware of what some of the symptoms are, because I didn’t feel ill, I felt fine.”
Chiara De Biase, Prostate Cancer UK director of health services, equity and improvement, welcomed the news of McGeechan’s recovery and also stressed the need for a screening programme.
“Today, the responsibility to know if you are at risk and to act on it rest entirely on men’s shoulders, this must change – too many men are dying,” Biase said in a statement to the PA news agency.
“We are urgently awaiting a decision on a screening programme from the National Screening Committee which could help, but we need the Government to take action now and to work with us to deliver an effective prostate cancer early detection programme for men from all walks of life across the UK.”
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