Sir Chris Hoy says the campaign to encourage men to get tested for prostate cancer should not depend on high-profile individuals like him, arguing that men need a more systematic and proactive way to understand their own risk.
The former Olympic cyclist, who was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer when he was 47, has become one of the most prominent voices in the debate over screening. Earlier this year, health experts recommended that only a few thousand men in the UK with a genetic variant and a family history of cancer should be screened for prostate cancer, while the UK National Screening Committee has said the harms outweigh the benefits in all other groups outside that small higher-risk category.
Why Hoy says the system needs to do more
Hoy told Scotland that the burden of awareness should not fall on a few famous names. “It shouldn't just be down to high-profile individuals like Jeremy Clarkson or myself or any number of men who've been in a similar situation,” he said.
Instead, he wants something broader and more consistent. “There should be a more systematic and proactive approach to let men know about their own risk,” Hoy said, making clear that he sees awareness as the key issue.
That point matters because the current debate is not simply about whether screening is possible, but about how men are informed before the illness is advanced. Hoy's view is that too many people are left to discover the issue only when it is already serious.
Knowing your situation matters
Hoy said he recently received a bowel screening test in the post when he turned 50 in March, and used that experience to underline the contrast with prostate cancer awareness. “I turned 50 recently and I got a letter through the post with a bowel screening test,” he said.
He also addressed the limitations of the PSA test, which can help detect prostate cancer. “I understand the PSA test isn't perfect,” he said, explaining that it can lead to men being treated when they maybe did not need to be treated.
But for Hoy, that is not a reason to stand still. “But actually, I think that's not a diagnosis issue, that's a treatment issue, that's a decision for the doctors to make,” he said. “I think knowing your situation is really important.”
Even if there were a national screening system in place, Hoy said he would continue to campaign for awareness. “In the short term, until something more proactive happens you've got to take it on your own shoulders,” he said.
He added that prostate cancer is easy to delay thinking about. “It's not what you want to think about and it's always the thing you push down the list of priorities. You forget about it because life's busy,” Hoy said.
The wider message is clear: Hoy is not just calling for more attention to his own illness, but for a system that helps men understand risk before they are forced into crisis. For him, the debate is about making screening awareness routine rather than relying on personalities to carry the message.
