Former UK PM David Cameron’s reveals cancer diagnosisEllie NgPAMon, 24 November 2025 9:09AM
Former British prime minister David Cameron has revealed he had prostate cancer.
His diagnosis has motivated him to speak out in favour of a targeted screening program for the UK’s most common cancer in men.
Cameron was urged to get tested by his wife, Samantha, after the pair heard the founder of Soho House, Nick Jones, speaking about his experience with the cancer on the radio a year ago, the Times reported.
He had a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, an MRI scan and then a biopsy which confirmed the diagnosis.
“You always dread hearing those words,” he told the Times.
“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’.”
“This is something we’ve really got to think about, talk about, and if necessary, act on.”
Cameron is advocating for screening to be offered to high-risk men.
“I want to add my name to the long list of people calling for a targeted screening program,” he said.
“I don’t particularly like discussing my personal intimate health issues, but I feel I ought to.
“Let’s be honest. Men are not very good at talking about their health. We tend to put things off.
“We’re embarrassed to talk about something like the prostate, because it’s so intricately connected with sexual health and everything else,” he said.
He received focal therapy for treatment, in which electrical pulses target and destroy cancer cells.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in males in the UK, with around 55,000 new cases every year.
There’s no screening program for prostate cancer in the UK because of concerns about the accuracy of PSA tests.
“There are respectable arguments against a screening program,” Cameron admitted.
“You’ve always got to think how many cases do we discover and how many misdiagnoses are there and how many people will be treated unnecessarily.
“But … the circumstances are changing. The arguments are changing, and so it’s a really good moment to have another look at this.”
Cameron’s announcement comes days after the first eligible men in the UK were invited to join a major trial testing the most promising screening techniques for the disease.
Cameron served as prime minister from 2010 to 2016 and resigned after advocating for a ‘No’ vote in the the Brexit referendum when the country voted to leave the European Union
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