Former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron Reveals Cancer Diagnosis: ‘You Always Dread Hearing Those Words’

Former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron has disclosed that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this year.

Speaking to The Times in an interview published Sunday, Nov. 23, the 59-year-old said he decided to get tested after encouragement from his wife, Samantha. She had heard Soho House founder Nick Jones discuss his own prostate cancer diagnosis on the radio, which prompted her to urge Cameron to book an appointment.

Cameron underwent a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, a blood test that measures levels of proteins associated with prostate disease, according to the Mayo Clinic. His PSA result came back elevated, leading to further investigations including an MRI and a biopsy, which confirmed the cancer.

“You always hope for the best,” Cameron said. “You have a high PSA score — that’s probably nothing. You have an MRI scan with a few black marks on it. You think, ‘Ah, that’s probably OK.’ But when the biopsy comes back, and it says you have got prostate cancer, you always dread hearing those words.”

According to The Times, Cameron was treated with focal therapy, which targets the specific area of the tumor using techniques such as ultrasound to destroy cancer cells. As the Cleveland Clinic notes, focal therapy can preserve healthy tissue and may carry fewer side effects than radiation or surgery, particularly for cancers that are contained within the prostate and considered low risk.

Cameron said his experience has strengthened his support for a targeted national screening program to detect prostate cancer earlier, when outcomes are often better. Similar calls have been made by the charity Prostate Cancer Research.

“I want to add my name to the long list of people calling for a targeted screening [program],” he said. While acknowledging the discomfort of discussing personal health, Cameron argued that men often delay seeking care and that greater openness can help shift that pattern. “Let’s be honest. Men are not very good at talking about their health. We tend to put things off,” he added.

Prostate cancer remains the most common cancer among men in the U.K., with around 55,000 new cases each year, according to the BBC. The country does not currently run a broad screening program, in part because of concerns about PSA test accuracy and the risk of overdiagnosis. Cameron said he recognizes those concerns but believes the balance of evidence is changing.

“I know it’s not a slam dunk,” he said. “There are respectable arguments against a screening program… But it seems to me that quite a lot of things have changed over the last few years. The circumstances are changing. The arguments are changing, and so it’s a really good moment to have another look at this.”

Cameron stepped down as prime minister and as an MP in 2016. He returned to government in 2023 when then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appointed him foreign secretary, and he was subsequently made a life peer in the House of Lords.