Stephen Fry has announced that he has prostate cancer. The actor and TV presenter underwent an operation in January to have his prostate and 11 lymph nodes removed.

Fry shared a video talking about his diagnosis via Twitter:

Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) For the last 2 months I've been in the throes of a rather unwelcome and unexpected adventure. I'm sorry I haven't felt able to talk about it till now, but here I am explaining what has been going on: https://t.co/uPorpiwstg

Fry, who stepped down last month as presenter of the Bafta film awards, describes the cancer as an “aggressive little bugger” during the 13-minute clip.

He said he had visited his doctor for a flu jab, but that a full health check revealed his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels were high. An MRI scan confirmed that he had cancer.

Fry was offered the option of radiotherapy, “a long and difficult process”, or having his prostate removed. He chose to have surgery and has since been recovering.

“It doesn’t seem to have spread, because what you don’t want is it to spread from one area to another, but one of the lymph nodes had something that called for active surveillance,” Fry says in the video.

“It all seemed to go pretty well. They took the prostate out, they took out 11 lymph nodes. The various bits that were taken out were examined and it turned out I had a Gleason score of nine, and considering 10 is the maximum, it was clearly an aggressive little bugger.

“It’s a bit of a business having an operation like that. There are five holes punctured in you, it’s like being stabbed five times ... to the body, it’s the same traumatic effect. It’s all pretty undignified and unfortunate.”

Fry said he decided to talk about his diagnosis because rumours had started to circulate. “Cancer is a word that rings in your head. ‘I’ve got cancer,’ I kept saying to myself. ‘Good heavens. You’re not supposed to get cancer.’ I know it’s a cliche, but you don’t think it’s going to happen to you. Cancer is something that happens to other people.

“So far as we know, it’s all been got. Are there greater chances of me getting other cancers now? Apparently not ... But I won’t know for sure until I get my PSA levels checked. They should be zero now because I have no prostate.

“But if there’s anything left on the bed of the prostate where they’ve taken it out, it may have spread and I’ll have to get radiotherapy and the whole damn thing will start again. But for the moment I’m fit and well and happy.”

Fry says his doctors believe the early intervention saved his life, and urges “men of a certain age” to get their PSA levels checked. “I’m bloody lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people, and I’m lucky to have an immune system, because that’s the real hero,” he said.

Prostate Cancer UK thanked Fry for “speaking about his personal experience” and emphasised the importance of raising awareness of the disease.



Angela Culhane, chief executive at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. There are over 47,000 men in the UK who, like Stephen Fry, are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year.



“However, despite the numbers it’s a disease that, due to its nature, is often swept under the carpet. We salute Stephen for his courage in speaking out about his personal experience and wish him all the very best for his recovery.”

