What is the importance of International Men’s Day?

ANCON Medical discusses the importance of men getting diagnosed early for common cancers to mark this year’s International Men’s day

To mark International Men’s Day 2019, an event designed to raise awareness of male-specific cancers as well as reducing stigma around mental health, ANCON Medical have conducted exclusive research into how men deal with symptoms and the impact this has on survival rates.

The research has shown that around 52% of men in the UK have not visited the doctor in up to five years, despite many respondents citing potentially serious symptoms or a family history of serious illness.

Nearly 2.5 million men in the UK are either concerned about symptoms of a serious illness or have a family history of cancer yet don’t feel they have the time to get checked out.

This becomes even more concerning as the research shows that only 24% of men are doing regular recommended checks for cancer, such as checking for testicular cancer which is so key to surviving cancers such as these.

Compared to 48% of women, this shows the disparity in men not taking their health seriously.

Nearly 12,000 men die each year in the UK from prostate cancer as the most common form of cancer for men.

However, when diagnosed before stage IV the one-year survival rate is 101% (due to higher survival rates than the general population) versus 49% at stage IV. This demonstrates the importance of early diagnosis and proper screening to the survivability of this form of cancer.

Wesley Baker, CEO of ANCON Medical, comments on the research:

“It is hugely disheartening that men are still dying from what can be a very treatable form of cancer. One of the main focuses for survivability is ensuring that cancer does not reach the late stage that requires such novel and innovative treatments and is often so lethal. Catching common and treatable cancers early will be one of the keys to reducing the funding deficit for the NHS in future whilst raising survival rates.

“To see that so many men are still neglecting their health and risking a late-stage diagnosis, which has been shown to reduce survival rates significantly, is a massive concern. Today, raising awareness of the checks that can be carried out to catch cancer early is a vitally important part of stopping men dying early unnecessarily.”