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Worried young men are increasingly paying for private prostate cancer tests as they are not eligible for them on the NHS , figures have revealed. Over the past three months Britain’s biggest online pharmacy has seen a 600 per cent rise in sales of blood tests that looks for signs of the disease. According to Pharmacy2U, men under 50 are most likely to order the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test. The trend followed the news last year that Olympic champion cyclist Sir Chris Hoy had terminal prostate cancer. He was diagnosed at 48, having never been offered a PSA test. NHS guidance states that men under 50 can have the test only if they have symptoms, which include difficulty urinating, erectile dysfunction, blood in the urine and semen, weight loss , back pain and loss of appetite. But most men with early-stage prostate cancer do not have any. Sir Chris – along with Prostate Cancer UK – is calling for the age at which men are offered the te...

Thousands of men with prostate cancer are set to benefit from a pioneering surgical technique that slashes the risk of one of the most common and feared complications. The news comes after a major study published today in the Lancet found that the technique slashed rates of erectile dysfunction for patients in half. The technique has already been rolled out at five NHS hospitals but surgeons now say that it should be made available for more men with a diagnosis. Unlike older methods, the procedure-NueroSAFE-better preserves the nerves responsible for erections that run through the outer layers of the prostate. Experts say the groundbreaking op is the first of its kind in being able fully remove prostate cancers and reduce complications. Professor Greg Shaw, the trial lead from University College London, said: 'This trial shows men do not have to face the life-changing loss of erectile function. '[The technique] should now be used more wi...