More men in Buckinghamshire were diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2022, new figures show.

It comes as men across the UK are urged to check their risk during Men's Health Awareness Month.

New figures from NHS England show there were 1,731 men registered with prostate cancer in the NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board in 2022 – a 29 per cent increase on the year before.

Meanwhile, England saw a 26 per cent increase in diagnoses in 2022, with almost 55,000 new cases identified.

Prostate Cancer UK said the data vindicates its campaign to find the 'missing men' not getting checked, but warned many were still being diagnosed too late.

Amy Rylance, assistant director of health improvement at the charity, said there was a 'huge drop' in men getting tested for prostate cancer during the pandemic.

She said: "By early 2022, there were over 14,000 men missing a prostate cancer diagnosis.

"To find these 'missing men', we launched a major campaign with the NHS in 2022 and created our online risk checker which enables men to quickly find out their risk of getting prostate cancer and what they can do about it.

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"At the time we saw record-breaking numbers of referrals with suspected cancer, and this data confirms the effectiveness of that campaign."

The figures also show men aged between 70 and 79 accounted for the largest proportion of prostate cancer diagnoses, with 40 per cent of all cases found in men between these ages.

This was also the case in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire, where 39 per cent of all cases were within this age range.

The data also shows significant inequalities across England – north central London had the highest rate of diagnoses, with 275 cases per 100,000 people, while Lancashire and South Cumbria had the lowest rate, at 177 per 100,000.

In Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire, there were 220 diagnoses per 100,000 people.

Men's Health Awareness Month runs throughout November.

Claire Taylor, chief nursing officer at Macmillan Cancer Support, said early diagnoses saves lives.

She urged those in a high-risk category, such as black men and men with a family history of earlier age cancer, to get checked.

Ms Rylance said despite the rise in testing, too many were being diagnosed too late.

Prostate Cancer UK is also calling on the Government to update NHS guidelines that prevent GPs from proactively talking to men most at risk about their options – a move it says could save thousands of lives a year.

Anyone concerned about prostate cancer can use Prostate Cancer UK's online risk checker at www.prostatecanceruk.org/risk-checker, or visit www.macmillan.org.uk For more information.