A Scots grandad's new symptom in the night was the first sign he had prostate cancer. John Culling was serving in the army when he started needing the toilet through the night on a skiing trip something he’d never needed to do before.
The 64-year-old put it down to age, but when it happened again on a trip as an army hill walking instructor, a medic with the group suggested he ask his GP to check his prostate.
John, who lives in Broughty Ferry with his wife Margaret, wasn't too concerned at first but subsequently he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer in 2019.
He underwent chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and hormone treatment which was successful and is now being monitored.
“I wasn’t overly concerned, " he said. "I was only having to get up once in the night, but I had never had to before, so it was the change that prompted me to get it checked out.
“The diagnosis came as a shock. I was 60 but I had been in the army all my life so was fit.
“The aggressiveness of the prostate cancer I have means there is a high chance it could come back so it’s a case of waiting and watching.”
John, originally from Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders, joined the army at 19 and served for 43 years until August last year, latterly as a captain and Quartermaster, in the King’s Own Scottish Borders then the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
Now the grandfather to two boys, three-year-old Mack and two-week-old Blair, is hopeful that current research being funded by Cancer Research UK could help treat the disease even more effectively in future.
Recently, a clinical trial with 12 patients, conducted at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow, found that statins - drugs commonly used to reduce cholesterol - slowed tumour growth when given alongside treatment which reduces hormone levels (androgen deprivation therapy).
Larger clinical trials are now needed to confirm whether statins could be given alongside androgen deprivation therapy to treat prostate cancer more widely.
Each year, around 3,800 people diagnosed in Scotland.
John said: “Knowing that scientists are working in labs and hospitals conducting research and clinical trials, especially with drugs that are already in use for other conditions, gives me hope both for myself and for future generations.
“Hopefully, research like this means even better outcomes for anyone who might have to go through a diagnosis like mine.
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