Stephen Fry reveals he is recovering from prostate cancer
Written by News on 24/02/2018
Stephen Fry has announced he is receiving treatment for prostate cancer.
The actor and writer revealed the news in a video message on his personal blog on Friday.
He underwent surgery to remove his prostate and 11 lymph nodes before Christmas. He was diagnosed following a full health check-up by his doctor, whom he had booked an appointment with to receive a flu jab.
Surgery is said to have gone well, with doctors telling him: “It’s all been got.”
Introducing the link to his blog on Twitter, the 60-year-old wrote: “For the last 2 months I’ve been in the throes of a rather unwelcome and unexpected adventure.
“I’m sorry I haven’t felt able to talk about it till now, but here I am explaining what has been going on.”
The former QI presenter – who stepped down from his BAFTA hosting role last month – said his health was the reason he had retreated from the public eye in recent months.
He added that doctors had told him the early diagnosis had saved his life.
“Are there greater chances of me getting other cancers now? Apparently not,” he said.
“But I won’t know for sure until I get my PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels checked. They should be zero because I have no prostate.
“But if there’s anything left on the bed of the prostate where they’ve taken it out, it may have spread and I’ll have to get radiotherapy and the whole damn thing will start again.
“But for the moment, I’m fit and well and happy.”
Mr Fry – who praised the private doctors who carried out the surgery and thanked his friends and family for their support – also urged other men “of a certain age” to make sure they get their prostate checked.
“I know its an old cliche but you don’t think it’s going to happen to you, cancer is something that happens to other people,” he said.
One man now dies from the disease every 45 minutes, Prostate Cancer UK said earlier this month.
(c) Sky News 2018: Stephen Fry reveals he is recovering from prostate cancer
