W.Bro. Peter Crussell PPSGW was 64 when he attended a prostate cancer screening event organised with the support of the Masonic Province of Cambridgeshire in July 2024. “I had no symptoms,” Peter explained. “I never had to get up in the night, I never had trouble urinating, so I thought I had nothing to worry about – Wrong!”
Peter had first become aware of prostate cancer when his maternal grandfather died from complications of the disease in 1989, aged 80, after it had spread to his bones. As his father had never suffered from prostate cancer, Peter believed his own risk was relatively low.
That changed when a PSA test showed an elevated result.
Although his GP initially considered the result to be normal for his age, Peter decided to pursue the matter further, particularly after two of his uncles were subsequently diagnosed with prostate cancer. “I followed the advice that if something bothers you, you should bother your GP,” he said.
Further investigations at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, including a scan and biopsy, eventually confirmed that Peter had prostate cancer. The words I dreaded hearing were, ‘Mr Crussell, you have prostate cancer’.” But there was also good news. “Thanks to you getting tested and your persistence with your GP, we’ve caught it early, it hasn’t spread and we can treat it.”
Peter subsequently underwent hormone treatment followed by a course of radiotherapy in 2025.
“I have to say that the Urology and Oncology departments at Addenbrooke’s were absolutely brilliant. They were efficient, kind and communicative, and I couldn’t fault them.”
A year on from completing his treatment, Peter has been told that he is now cancer free, with his PSA level down to 0.21. “Without having that PSA test, I would not have been diagnosed because I never had any symptoms,” he said.
Peter’s experience comes as new figures from the CHAPS Men’s Health Charity highlight the results of prostate cancer screening supported by Cambridgeshire Freemasons.
At a screening event held at Ely Masonic Lodge on 22 July 2026, 70 men were tested. Eight men – 11.4 per cent – received an abnormal result and were advised to seek further medical assessment. CHAPS estimates that two of those men may ultimately be diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The screening programme also identified men who, although having a normal PSA, were considered to be at higher or intermediate risk and will therefore be monitored and recalled for future testing. CHAPS says this risk-based approach is intended to identify developing cancers at an early, potentially curable stage while avoiding unnecessary testing of men at lower risk.
The latest figures also show the wider impact of the programme. Between 2022 and 2025, CHAPS screening recorded 12,907 men tested, 973 abnormal results and 179 prostate cancers detected, with 140 receiving radical treatment.
Within the Masonic Province of Cambridgeshire, 18 abnormal results and four cancers have been detected since 2023, with all four receiving radical treatment.
For Peter, those figures reinforce a simple message. “I cannot understand why there is still a reluctance to introduce a national screening programme for prostate cancer. A PSA test isn’t perfect, but it can identify men who need further investigation. In my case, I had no symptoms at all, yet the test led to a diagnosis while my cancer was still treatable. Without that test, I might not have known anything was wrong until it was too late.”
The CHAPS report states that prostate cancer is the most common major cancer in the UK, with an estimated 63,000 new cases each year, yet there is currently no national screening programme. It says its risk-based PSA programme has been designed to increase screening for men at higher risk while reducing unnecessary testing among those at lower risk.
The Masonic Province of Cambridgeshire continues to support prostate cancer screening for its members through the CHAPS programme, with the latest report concluding that the programme is detecting potentially life-threatening cancers at an early and curable stage.
Peter’s advice to other men is simple:
“Don’t wait until you have symptoms. Get yourself checked.”
