WHEN Brian Jones found out his dad Steve had been diagnosed with potentially lethal prostrate cancer, he was devastated.

However, his father’s plight was to be the catalyst that led to Brian undergoing a crucial screening test – one that ultimately saved his life.

Steve heeded the advice of leading Basingstoke-based cancer surgeon Chris Eden and encouraged his son to be screened because of the high risk that members of the same family can fall prey to prostate cancer, which only affects men.

Brian, who is 37, said: “In a way, my dad saved my life because otherwise I would have not been screened.”

Steve, a 60-year-old painter and decorator, of Hangar Road, Tadley, was found to have advanced prostate cancer in 2004 after he had trouble passing water. His tumour could not be removed, although it has been controlled using hormone treatment.

Brian, who lives with his dad, said: “I am now watching him go through what I would have gone through”

Brian, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008, described his shock at having “an old man’s disease” – but he was more surprised by the diagnosis because he thought he was a perfectly healthy young man.

“I never had any symptoms – I just had no idea that this could happen,” he said.

For this reason, he is joining calls by Mr Eden, a world-renowned surgeon based at the private BMI The Hampshire Clinic, in Old Basing, for a national screening programme.

Brian said: “In my view, people should be screened because it can be such a silent cancer in the beginning. With testicular cancer, you can feel if something is adrift but with prostate cancer you can’t.”

Brian was screened using a test for Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) level. The results were above normal but doctors became worried when subsequent tests showed his PSA level was rising, which indicated a growing tumour.

In January 2009, Mr Eden – who also works in the NHS – performed a radical prostatectomy using his pioneering keyhole technique at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, in Guildford. This procedure removes the prostate and tumour without damaging delicate nerves. This means Brian was spared the unpleasant side-effects like incontinence and impotence.

Brian was given the all-clear in April after a six-week stint of radiotherapy, and now has a 96 per cent chance of recovering fully.

He is coming to terms with not being able to father any more children naturally. This pain was compounded by the fact that he and his partner Amanda Bone lost their baby during an ectopic pregnancy just as he was diagnosed with the cancer in 2008.

Currently, Brian and Amanda are not eligible to have IVF on the NHS because he already has a child, Leon, eight, and she has two children – Molly, nine, and Lucy, 10. However, the couple hope to save up to pay for it, which could be as much as £8,000.

However, despite what he has gone through, Brian feels fortunate he was screened and had the chance to beat prostate cancer.

“I was very lucky – and my dad was so pleased that I could have the operation,” he added.