Giles Coren 'had to demand, literally demand' a test before prostate cancer diagnosis

Restaurant critic Giles Coren has spoken of how he 'had to demand' a test before his cancer diagnosis.

Coren, 55, revealed on Friday that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer this week. It came after, earlier this week, charity Prostate Cancer UK said diagnoses of the disease had overtaken breast cancer in 2022 and 2023, making it England’s most common cancer.

Writing in his column for The Times on Friday, Coren said urology nurses had taken a biopsy before informing him they had found “some cancer” but that “no treatment would be necessary for the moment”.

“In the very week that it was announced on the front page of The Times that prostate cancer is now the commonest cancer in England … I have been diagnosed with it!” he wrote.

TV star and writer Coren, who is the brother of Only Connect presenter Victoria Coren Mitchell, said his “delightful journey started a couple of years ago”.

“I had to demand, literally demand, a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test along with my annual cholesterol check, because not only is it not mandatory on the NHS but your GP is not even allowed to suggest it unless you have symptoms,” he claimed.

The NHS website says a PSA test checks the level of prostate specific antigen in your blood, with high levels indicating a potential prostate condition.

Coren said the test “came back a bit high” and revealed he had only asked for it because of the work done by celebrities including Stephen Fry, the late Bill Turnbull – and more recently Sir Chris Hoy, who revealed his prostate cancer was terminal in 2024.

Prostate Cancer UK says “normal” PSA levels are usually less than 3ng/ml but adds that this varies, with levels depending on factors such as age and medication use.

After his test presented