Former British Prime Minister David Cameron has revealed that he recently underwent treatment for prostate cancer, joining a growing chorus of high-profile voices calling for improved screening and awareness of the disease in the UK. The 59-year-old, who served as prime minister from 2010 to 2016 and later as foreign secretary in Rishi Sunak’s government, shared his diagnosis and recovery in a candid interview with The Times, hoping his story would encourage others to take their health seriously and support the push for a national screening programme.
Cameron’s journey began earlier this year after his wife, Samantha, urged him to get checked. The couple had been listening to a BBC radio interview with entrepreneur Nick Jones—himself a prostate cancer survivor and trustee of Prostate Cancer Research—who was campaigning for more men to be tested. "I don't particularly like discussing my personal intimate health issues, but I feel I ought to," Cameron told The Times. "Let's be honest. Men are not very good at talking about their health. We tend to put things off."
Heeding his wife’s advice, Cameron visited his GP for a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, a blood test that looks for proteins associated with prostate cancer. The results showed worryingly high levels, prompting further investigation. An MRI scan and a biopsy soon followed, confirming the diagnosis. Reflecting on the moment he received the news, Cameron said, "You always dread hearing those words. And then literally as they're coming out of the doctor's mouth you're thinking, 'Oh, no, he's going to say it. He's going to say it. Oh God, he said it.' Then came the next decision. Do you get treatment? Or do you watch and wait?"
For Cameron, the decision was clear and personal. His older brother Alexander had died of pancreatic cancer at the same age he is now, an experience that "focuses the mind," as he put it. "I decided quite quickly. I wanted to move ahead and that's what I did." Cameron opted for focal therapy, a targeted treatment that uses either ultrasound waves or electric pulses delivered via needles to destroy only the cancerous cells in the prostate. After the procedure, he received a post-treatment MRI scan in June 2025. He is now cancer-free.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the UK, with around 55,000 new cases diagnosed every year, according to BBC News. It is most prevalent in men over 75 and is particularly common among Black men, while cases in men under 50 remain rare. Despite its frequency, there is currently no routine national screening programme for prostate cancer in the UK, largely due to concerns about the accuracy of the PSA test and the risk of false positives or overdiagnosis.
Nevertheless, the lack of a screening programme has become increasingly controversial. Prostate cancer overtook breast cancer as the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK, and approximately 12,000 men die from the disease annually. As Chiara De Biase, director of health services at Prostate Cancer UK, told BBC News, "We lose 12,000 dads, brothers, sons and friends to this disease every year. We've reached a tipping point in the UK, with too many men dying from a curable disease. Prostate cancer is the last major cancer without a screening programme, and we need change now."
Cameron’s public disclosure has added momentum to calls for targeted screening, particularly for high-risk groups. He is backing the charity Prostate Cancer Research’s campaign to introduce regular screening for men deemed at higher risk. "I've got a platform. This is something we've really got to think about, talk about, and if necessary, act on. I want to, as it were, come out. I want to add my name to the long list of people calling for a targeted screening programme," Cameron said in his Sky News interview.
His advocacy comes at a crucial time. Just days before his announcement, a major prostate cancer screening trial began in the UK, aiming to find the best way to detect the disease by comparing new screening methods with current NHS diagnostic practices. Prostate Cancer UK is co-funding this effort. The trial’s results could pave the way for a national screening programme, which is under active consideration by the government’s National Screening Committee. The committee was expected to meet on November 27, 2025, to discuss whether to approve the first NHS prostate cancer screening programme.
Currently, NHS guidelines in England allow any man over the age of 50 to request a PSA test, but routine screening is not offered. A recent trial indicated that screening all men over 50 using PSA tests could reduce deaths by 13% over two decades by catching the disease earlier. The government is also considering new plans to roll out routine at-home blood tests for prostate cancer, potentially available through the NHS app from 2027. These plans would also include video consultations and better funding for research into men’s health issues.
Cameron is not alone in his campaign for greater awareness and improved testing. Scottish cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy, diagnosed last year at age 49 with advanced, terminal prostate cancer, has also called for more younger men to be tested. Speaking to the BBC in November 2024, Hoy described his diagnosis as "the biggest shock of my life" and said, "My perspective on life has changed massively. I am more thankful, I'm more grateful for each day." Health Secretary Wes Streeting has publicly stated that he has "asked the NHS to look at the case for lowering the age" for routine PSA testing, a move that could further expand early detection efforts.
The urgency of these campaigns is underscored by the statistics: around one in eight men in the UK will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime, and the disease remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related death among men. Despite advances in treatment and increased awareness, the absence of a national screening programme continues to raise concerns among healthcare professionals, patients, and advocacy groups alike.
For Cameron, sharing his experience is about more than personal health—it’s about making a difference for others. "I would feel bad if I didn't come forward and say that I've had this experience. I had a scan. It helped me discover something that was wrong. It gave me the chance to deal with it," he told The Independent. His candor and advocacy have been widely praised by health charities and campaigners, who hope his story will inspire other men to seek testing and support efforts to introduce routine screening nationwide.
As the UK awaits the outcome of the National Screening Committee’s deliberations, the debate over how best to tackle prostate cancer continues. What’s clear is that stories like Cameron’s—and the voices of those who have faced the disease—are helping to shift the conversation, breaking down stigma and encouraging men across the country to take charge of their health.
With the prospect of new screening options on the horizon and renewed government focus, momentum for change appears to be building. For the thousands of men and their families affected by prostate cancer each year, that change can’t come soon enough.
