Ex-Scotland and Lions boss Sir Ian McGeechan says his prostate cancer ‘all gone’

Former Scotland and British and Irish Lions head coach Sir Ian McGeechan has revealed his prostate cancer is “all gone and under control” – and backed calls for a national screening programme to be introduced.

The 78-year-old, who is a consultant director of rugby at Doncaster, led Scotland to the Five Nations Grand Slam in 1990, and also oversaw series victories as the Lions boss in both 1989 and 1997.

During his playing days, fly-half McGeechan earned 32 Scotland caps – including nine as captain – and won the 1974 Lions series in South Africa before touring again with the side in New Zealand in 1977.

Leeds-born McGeechan shared his diagnosis in May and following treatment, which included a six-week course of radiotherapy, has provided a positive update.

“I finished the treatment at the end of April and then had a follow-up test at the end of May – and the PSA (Prostate-specific antigen) was down to 0.8, which effectively said it’s gone,” McGeechan said on Sky News.

“So when you hear that, after having heard somebody say to you ‘You have got cancer’, it’s quite special. The prostate cancer is all gone and under control, so (I am) delighted.”

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. Figures from Prostate Cancer UK show more than 63,000 men are diagnosed every year and 12,000 of those will die.

There have been growing calls for annual tests, with the UK National Screening Committee currently assessing whether a prostate cancer screening programme should be set up.

“It needs that support from government. There has to be a screening programme because prostate cancer is recoverable,” McGeechan said.

“And it would be a great shame if people miss that opportunity to have a scan and not just be able to have it there rather than be asking ‘Can you, can’t you?’”

McGeechan added: “If you have got cancer in the family then it just makes sense to be able to offer that screening and just educate people and make them aware of what some of the symptoms are, because I didn’t feel ill, I felt fine.”

Chiara De Biase, Prostate Cancer UK director of health services, equity and improvement, welcomed the news of McGeechan’s recovery and also stressed the need for a screening programme.

“Today, the responsibility to know if you are at risk and to act on it rest entirely on men’s shoulders, this must change – too many men are dying,” Biase said in a statement to the PA news agency.

“We are urgently awaiting a decision on a screening programme from the National Screening Committee which could help, but we need the Government to take action now and to work with us to deliver an effective prostate cancer early detection programme for men from all walks of life across the UK.”