Premier League legend Shaka Hislop has announced that he is fighting prostate cancer. The 56-year-old, who played for Reading, West Ham, Newcastle and Portsmouth during his 15-year professional career, shared the news of his illness with his fans on social media.
The former Trinidad and Tobago international revealed: “I have a story to tell. Roughly 18 months ago, I went for my annual physical and insisted on a PSA test, as I always do. This time around though my PSA was elevated. An MRI and biopsy quickly determined that I had a fairly aggressive prostate cancer. A year ago, almost to the day, December 6 to be exact, I had a radical prostatectomy. And I thought that was it.”
However, Hislop’s battle was far from over. He explained: “But then, six months later, my PSA was again on the rise and another scan showed that my prostate cancer had spread to my pelvic bone.”
He added: “I started on medication pretty soon after, and just this morning completed seven-and-a-half weeks of radiation therapy. The journey continues.”
Hislop, who has been a pundit since retiring in 2007, urged men in higher-risk age groups to get checked regularly. He advised: “Doctors recommend that all men over the age of 50 get their PSA checked regularly. If you’re of African descent, that age drops to 40.”
He also stressed the importance of insisting on tests, saying: “If you’re somewhere like the UK or somewhere else where PSA tests aren’t encouraged, you have got to insist.
“Having a history of cancer in the family doesn’t matter. I had genetic testing done and it showed no traits in my family, yet this year would show that, without going into too much detail, even that didn’t exclude everybody in my immediate family.
“The highest rate of prostate cancer mortality is in Caribbean men, so allow me to speak to my community, my people. Please, go get tested. Know your PSA, track its history.
“Prostate cancer is survivable if caught early enough. There are treatments for it. Testing saves lives. It saved mine.”