Lord Kitchener is calling for Britain's men again, but this time it's to fight for themselves instead of their country. If all goes to plan this powerful poster will soon be seen in sport's locker rooms, public loos and community centres around the country. It is the brain child of four men from the Guildford Patient's Support Group, which is part of the Prostate Project. The aim is simple - it is to encourage a lot more men to be aware of the symptoms of prostate cancer and through a PSA blood test, have themselves checked on a regular basis.

The simple truth is that the disease kills 10,000 men in the UK each year but the survival rate for those diagnosed early is excellent. Although widely considered to be an old man's disease it can catch men as early as 40. The story of two Peters from Surrey prove the importance of early detection.

Peter Laing was 42 when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Two years later he is cured and leading a normal life. He acknowledges that he was lucky simply because of the vigilance of his local GP. He had no symptoms but during an examination for another problem his GP detected a small lump on his prostate. He was given three options, radiotherapy, brachytherapy or radical prostatectomy (you can read more about these at prostate-project ). Peter's decision was easy because he had already three lovely children and as his prostate was effectively redundant decided to have a laparoscopic prostatectomy and now he is as fit as a fiddle.

Peter Seaton is a little older and was diagnosed with prostate cancer in his 60s. Again there was nothing to indicate he had a problem but was lucky enough to have an annual examination through his employer. This involved an annual PSA blood test. Although this test is sometimes regarded as unreliable it almost certainly saved Peter's life. Over a period of several years the blood test indicated that something was wrong although there were no outward symptoms. Despite the fact that Peter is a scientist and used to analysing problems objectively he found it difficult to apply detached analysis to his own situation. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. It is a fact that early diagnosis offers a range of treatments which often lead to a successful outcome. Had Peter known this he would have acted sooner.

After his operation he decided to analyse his lack of focus and concluded that there was a piece missing in the jigsaw. When he looks back Peter cannot speak too highly of the advice of the medical specialists but there was very limited emotional support so he volunteered to help them set up a local support group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer, and with the help of The Prostate Project founded the Guildford Support Group and just over a year ago they moved into action. Many men have turned to them for help and testify to the benefits of sharing experiences with other men faced with a similar problem. This resulted in the General Kitchener poster which is appearing all over the country. Anne Milton MP was persuaded into the loos at a local Sainsbury's for a photo shoot to promote the message that early detection is the key.

Peter Seaton, despite his analytical mind remains mystified as to why men are so reluctant to have a simple blood test to check themselves out. He says "I think it might be a gender thing - women happily have check ups for breast cancer but men seem to bury their heads in the sand".

prostate-project