I thought I was simply drinking too much tea – but it was a deadly condition that kills 400,000 people every year
WHEN Mark Thompson started needing the toilet more than usual, he put it down to drinking too much tea.
The comedian was knocking back six cups a day, plus he was a man in his mid-50s, so to him, it was nothing to worry about.
But months later, the 57-year-old discovered “by accident” that his frequent urination was actually a hidden symptom of prostate cancer.
He was reportedly told that if his condition hadn’t been caught when it was, he’d likely be dead within two years.
Mark, from Dinas Powys in Wales, said: “I wouldn’t have known.
“I wasn’t really showing any symptoms at all and the doctor said, ‘You wouldn’t have survived more than two years’.
“That sort of woke me up really to think we’ve got to make more and more people aware of prostate cancer.
“Because if it can happen that quickly to me, it can happen to anyone really.”
Mark first noticed he was peeing more often – including throughout the night – last year.
Initially, he blamed it on the half a dozen teas and coffees he was consuming each day.
“It wasn’t loads, I just noticed I was going more and getting up in the night and before I never used to,” he said.
“I honestly didn’t twig there was anything wrong – I just thought it was because I was getting to middle age.
“In hindsight, it should have been a little bit of a warning sign, but I was 56 and these sorts of things happen, you know?”
However, when the singer and comic was on a cruise around Japan in March 2024, he noticed his vision in his left eye had started to blur.
His wife Julie Thompson, also 57, suggested he should have an eye test when they got home in case he needed a pair of bifocal glasses.
When the dad-of-three went to see his optician at the beginning of April, he said he could not even read the top line of the chart in front of him.
He was referred to hospital for further tests, which all came back normal, except for his PSA level, which was raised and can be a sign of prostate cancer.
An MRI scan and biopsies confirmed there was cancer in his prostate, coccyx and pubic bone.
He was told it was aggressive, with a Gleason score of nine – indicating the cells look very abnormal and the cancer is likely to grow quickly.
Fellas don’t like talking about these sorts of things, but it could literally save your life
Mark Thompson
The grading system tells doctors how much the cancer cells look like normal cells, how the cancer might behave, and what treatment is needed.
A Gleason score of six is the least aggressive, and 10 is the most.
Mark said: “It was definitely a shock when I realised it was something more serious, because I found out about it by mistake really.
“I was on a cruise going around Japan earlier this year and I could sense my left eye was getting a little bit fuzzy and blurry.
“We went to visit a castle somewhere and I was coming down the steps and I thought, ‘I can’t even see the steps in front of me’.
“I went to get my eye tested because I knew there was something wrong with my eye as seeing things at any sort of distance was just getting harder and harder.
“We were going to see shows on the cruise ship and I’d have to take my distance glasses because I just couldn’t make them out on the stage.
“I knew something was changing, I knew something wasn’t right, and that’s how I found out about it really, purely by accident. I thought I needed some glasses.
“I’m actually grateful for that blurry vision because I wouldn’t have known otherwise.”
What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?
Symptoms of prostate cancer can include:
- needing to pee more frequently, often during the night
- needing to rush to the toilet
- difficulty in starting to pee (hesitancy)
- straining or taking a long time while peeing
- weak flow
- feeling that your bladder has not emptied fully
- blood in urine or blood in semen
Source: NHS
Mark said doctors told him his blurry vision was unconnected to his prostate cancer and they are still investigating what caused his eye problems.
But he began hormone treatment to slow the growth of his cancer on August 16 and is expected to start radiotherapy soon.
Mark has reportedly been told this should mean he lives for at least another 10 years.
“That was a relief for me because that was a lot longer than I was dreading,” he said.
“It’s always one of your worst fears, I think. To be told you’ve got any form of cancer is never the most pleasant day of your life.
“It was quite a moment because someone’s telling you you’ve got incurable cancer, but on the other hand, you feel relieved they’ve got the medication these days to hopefully keep you going as long as possible.
“It’s just that very raw period at the moment where you’re going through a mixture of emotions I suppose and you just can’t wait for the treatment to start and then you can’t wait for the treatment to work.”
MARK’S PLEA
He said he wants to share his story to help others identify symptoms early and have the best chance of survival.
“Your mind always goes to the worst case scenarios when someone tells you you’ve got cancer, but these days there’s so many reasons to be optimistic because the treatments they have are amazing,” Mark, who said his wife has been “fantastic”, added.
“Fellas don’t like talking about these sorts of things, but if you haven’t had a PSA test, certainly in the last few years, go and get one done because it literally could save your life.
“It saved mine for at least a few years, if not a little longer.
“Putting yourself through a couple of minutes of being uncomfortable with a needle is worth it.
“If you find even slightly that your habits around going to the loo are changing, then it’s another reason to go for a test.”
Prostate cancer - the figures
- One in eight men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime
- It is the fourth most common cancer worldwide, and the most common in men
- There are 55,000 new cases every year in the UK, and 1.4million globally
- Around 12,000 people lose their lives to prostate cancer annually in the UK, and almost 400,000 around the world
- Prostate cancer accounts for 28 per cent of all new cancer cases in men in the UK, and 14 per cent of all new cancer cases in men and women combined
- Prostate cancer survival has tripled in the last 50 years in the UK
- More than three quarters (78 per cent) of patients survive for 10 or more years
- About 490,000 men are living with and after prostate cancer in the UK
- It is most common in men aged 75 to 79
- Since the early 1990s, cases have increased by 53 per cent in the UK
- Mortality rates are up 16 per cent since the early 1970s in the UK
- Incidence rates are projected to rise by 15 per cent in the UK between 2023 to 2025 and 2038 to 2040
- Mortality rates are expected to fall five per cent in the UK over the same years
Source: Prostate Cancer UK, World Cancer Research Fund International and Cancer Research UK