Actor Colin McFarlane, who has appeared in Doctor Who, Outlander and The Dark Knight, has announced he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The 61-year-old said he did not yet require any treatment and that the cancer was at a very early stage.
The actor said: “Too many men black men are dying from prostate cancer. They need to know that a simple blood test could save their life.” McFarlane was well known as the voice of The Cube on the ITV gameshow.
He has also appeared in Death In Paradise, Holby City, Jonathan Creek, Coronation Street, Torchwood and Industry, and voiced characters in Peppa Pig, Bob The Builder, Thomas & Friends and Fireman Sam.
McFarlane said he discovered his condition in December, nine months after his brother’s own prostate cancer diagnosis.
The actor explained they both discovered their illness thanks to a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, which can be given to men without symptoms after a consultation with a doctor.
He said after a fellow actor, who was being treated for prostate cancer 17 years ago, told him about the disease’s prevalence among black men, he has been regularly tested.
McFarlane said: “I was already aware of the risk to me, so had been having annual and then six-monthly regular PSA blood tests with my GP.
“Thankfully, just over a year ago, I had told my brother to get a PSA blood test otherwise he wouldn’t have been diagnosed, because he had no symptoms.”
He added that he is “one of the lucky ones” as he has been “able to catch this very early”.
“So, although I have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, I do not require any treatment,” McFarlane added.
“I am being regularly monitored with PSA blood tests every three months and an MRI (or magnetic resonance imaging scan) once a year.”
McFarlane added: “As it’s a very slow-moving cancer I am in the best possible position to ascertain what treatment I would need in the future if that were ever deemed necessary, and currently that scenario is a long way off.
“It’s men who take no action and don’t know anything about their prostate health that are at the greatest risk.”
McFarlane said this is why he is backing Prostate Cancer UK’s latest campaign to encourage men over 50 and black men like him over 45 to get a PSA test.
According to the charity, black men are at double the risk of getting the disease. It says one in four will get it in their lifetime compared to the rate being one in eight among other men.
McFarlane has appeared as Gotham City police commissioner Gillian B Loeb in the Christopher Nolan-direct Batman Begins and The Dark Knight alongside Christian Bale and Sir Michael Caine.
He has made several appearances in Doctor Who, voicing the Heavenly Host in the Christmas special Voyage of the Damned and playing Moran in two episodes in 2015.
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