Jon Holmes of Radio 4 recounted informing his kids about his heartbreaking cancer diagnosis and disclosed that he was only screened for the illness because he was adopted.
After being urged to get examined by Stephen Fry, who had prostate cancer in 2017, the 57-year-old co-creator of Dead Ringers was diagnosed with the condition in 2023.
Jon recalls telling his girls about his diagnosis. Jon and his wife Nicki have two daughters, Isla and Maisie.
“They [doctors] were very upfront about the level of it, and they were very sort of, “You’re not going to die,” which is the first thing I told my kids when I told them,” he revealed in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail.
“I believe they were let down, but that’s the most crucial thing you should tell yourself and other people.”
He went on, “They were aware of cancer because we had a close friend pass away from the disease a few years ago, and there are friends who have had it and are doing well.”
After telling his kids about his awful cancer diagnosis, Radio’s 4 Jon Holmes recalled preparing a will and disclosed that he was only tested because he was adopted (shown in 2023).
Jon had a radical prostatectomy—the surgical removal of the entire prostate gland, surrounding tissue, and seminal vesicles—after receiving his diagnosis. “We’re going back three or four years.” In the kitchen, I told them, simply saying, “Look, I’ve been for some tests.”
“I told them when it was diagnosed, not during the procedure.” I’ve had several tests, and the results show that I have cancer, but it’s treatable.I didn’t have to explain what a prostate was to them, and I didn’t need two girls since it wouldn’t happen. Instead, I told them that it was in a place that could be fixed, that I would have surgery, that I was considering surgery, and that there were other choices. Everything will be alright.The youngest one then simply remarked, “All right, is that it? “May I please have an apple?”
“Yes, and that was it,” he chuckled.
Jon had a radical prostatectomy—the surgical removal of the entire prostate gland, surrounding tissue, and seminal vesicles—after receiving his diagnosis.
He said that he still considered death even after being informed that his disease was treatable.
“I think you find yourself confronting mortality because there’s always a “what if” isn’t there,” he explained. “There are a lot of “what ifs,” so I made a will. “I organised that the day before my surgery because I’d never done that before.” “It does make you realise that you only get one shot at this, I suppose, which is a cliché, I know, but it puts things into perspective a bit.”
You are compelled to consider topics that you previously believed you wouldn’t consider for several decades.
“You do begin to wonder, “What will happen with the kids?” and so forth.
“Yeah, I did consider it, but I just hoped for the best.”
Fortunately, the procedure went well, and Jon said he was cancer-free in July 2024.
But if he hadn’t chosen to get tested three years earlier, his narrative would have turned out quite differently.
Jon acknowledged that he had been “too busy” to get checked, so the news was shocking.
Jon disclosed that his doctor eventually consented to a blood test since he is adopted, even though he was first denied testing because he had no symptoms.
“I spoke to the GP, who said there isn’t a national screening program for this,” he recalled.
“There isn’t a program where men over 50 get tested, but what you’re seeing is some awareness campaign.”It’s not the same as breast cancer, which is now a common occurrence for women. It simply doesn’t happen. He went through a checklist that basically asked, “Do you constantly get up in the middle of the night to use the loo? Do you have erection issues? Do you have this, this, this?
‘And the answer to all of them, I’m pleased to say, was no.
‘So we got to the end of it and he said, ‘well, then no, you don’t need a test because we do it if there’s a symptom, basically.’
“Before you go, one final question: is there any of it in your family, family history, medical history? And I said, ‘I have no idea, I was adopted.’
‘And he went, “In that case, let’s get you in,” and that’s what got me through the door.
‘So had I not been adopted, I’d now have prostate cancer without even knowing about it until it was probably too late.
‘I genuinely wouldn’t have gone for that unless I’d been adopted because the answer at the moment from the NHS is, ‘come and see us if you have symptoms.’
‘But if you’ve got symptoms, it could be too late.’
To encourage more men to get tested, Jon has teamed up with GenesisCare for the new Mind the Gap campaign, highlighting gaps in understanding around prostate cancer treatment options
To encourage more men to get tested, Jon has teamed up with GenesisCare for the new Mind the Gap campaign, highlighting gaps in understanding around prostate cancer treatment options.
The campaign includes an infographic outlining the treatment options available following a diagnosis and how those decisions can affect future treatment if the cancer returns.
Having undergone a prostatectomy, Jon admitted he had no idea the cancer could come back, something that happens in 20 to 50 per cent of men, or how his treatment choice could affect future options.
Prostate cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK, with more than 63,000 new cases every year.
GenesisCare is also launching a new quizcast, The Big C QuizCast, hosted by Jon, designed to support prostate cancer patients and their families.
Jon said: ‘It’s a simplification of a process and filling what is essentially a knowledge gap because there’s stuff I didn’t know, even now.
‘I thought I knew most things about prostate cancer and its treatments, but it turns out I didn’t.
‘Ask all of the questions, go through whatever treatment, ask for all the options so you’ve got a choice – and an informed one.’
Visit https://www.genesiscare.com/uk/mind-the-gap to learn more about navigating your prostate cancer treatment journey. How many people does it kill?
More than 11,800 men a year – or one every 45 minutes – are killed by the disease in Britain, compared with about 11,400 women dying of breast cancer.
It means prostate cancer is behind only lung and bowel in terms of how many people it kills in Britain.
In the US, the disease kills 26,000 men each year.
Despite this, it receives less than half the research funding of breast cancer and treatments for the disease are trailing at least a decade behind.
How many men are diagnosed annually?
Every year, upwards of 52,300 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK – more than 140 every day.
How quickly does it develop?
Prostate cancer usually develops slowly, so there may be no signs someone has it for many years, according to the NHS.
If the cancer is at an early stage and not causing symptoms, a policy of ‘watchful waiting’ or ‘active surveillance’ may be adopted.
Some patients can be cured if the disease is treated in the early stages.
But if it is diagnosed at a later stage, when it has spread, then it becomes terminal and treatment revolves around relieving symptoms.
Thousands of men are put off seeking a diagnosis because of the known side effects from treatment, including erectile dysfunction.
Tests and treatment
Prostate cancer tests are random, and reliable instruments are just now starting to appear.
Since the tests have been too unreliable for years, there is no nationwide prostate screening program.
Making treatment decisions is challenging because doctors find it difficult to differentiate between aggressive and less dangerous cancers.
A “PSA” blood test, which provides clinicians with an approximate assessment of a patient’s risk, is available to men over 50.
However, it is not trustworthy. A biopsy, which is likewise not infallible, is typically performed on patients who receive a positive result.
Although the exact origin of prostate cancer is unknown, age, obesity, and inactivity are known risk factors.
If you have any questions, you can visit prostatecanceruk.org or call the professional nurses at Prostate Cancer UK at 0800 074 8383.
