Prostate cancer survivor urges men to get tested

When Christopher Denny went for his annual medical check-up in February 2022, he expected a clean bill of health. But that was not to be. His prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test came back slightly elevated with a result of 4.65.

A reading below four is considered normal. For Denny, it was the first warning sign that would change his life.

"It may not have been anything, but my doctor said I should see a urologist," Denny said.

That simple referral began a two-year journey of tests, uncertainty and difficult decisions. Initial scans and biopsies showed mostly benign tissue, but his PSA levels kept climbing, eventually reaching a startling 24.5 in July 2024.

After weighing his options locally, Denny underwent a procedure to remove his prostate last September. He shared that the recovery wasn't easy, but within months, his PSA results dropped to zero, where they have remained ever since.

Still, the journey has left its mark. "I'll confess that my libido has not returned perfectly," he says candidly. "You can have issues that affect you for a very long time. But I'm grateful to be alive and to be able to say the cancer is behind me."

Now, one year later, inspired by his own experience and having seen many friends succumb to cancer, Denny freely shares his story to encourage other men to take screening seriously.

"I have a close friend who was a medical doctor," he recalled. "He went to live in Canada. He came down with one of the rare cases of early prostate cancer in his 30s and he nearly lost his life, even though he had access to all the medical care in the world," Denny said.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men, with one in nine facing a diagnosis in their lifetime. In Jamaica, it remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men. Health experts urge men to begin annual screening at age 40 and to continue until around 70 to 75 years old.

While genetic predisposition and environmental exposures contribute to the development of cancer, unhealthy lifestyle behaviours remain an often under-recognised factor.

"I think my diagnosis was likely as a result of too fatty a diet," Denny said, admitting that he didn't eat healthily, which caused him to become obese.

Noting that he had no symptoms, Denny said it is important for men to get tested for prostate cancer.

"We should not allow hang-ups about doing a digital test or a PSA to prevent us from knowing what our situation is," he said.