Men's Health Month: A conversation with Prostate Cancer advocate Alfred Samuels

Last updated: 03 Oct 2025

June was Men's Health Month, and there is no better moment to spotlight the crucial issue of early detection of prostate cancer‐the most common cancer among men in the UK.

We're honoured to speak with inspirational patient advocate, Mr. Alfred Samuels. Alfred shares his deeply personal journey battling prostate cancer and passionately advocates for a nationwide NHS screening program utilizing advanced detection methods, such as the 94% accurate EpiSwitch® PSE blood test.

Dr. Bartu Ahiska, representing Oxford BioDynamics (AIM:OBD)—the biotech company that developed the EpiSwitch PSE test— as Senior Director of Commercial Development, leads this inspiring conversation.

Bartu Ahiska: Dear Alfred, thank you so much for joining us.

Alfred Samuels: Thank you, Bartu, for having me.

Bartu Ahiska: I first heard you as a guest speaker invited to talk in the main hall at the British Association of Urological Surgeons, or BAUS, 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting in Birmingham. Your story moved and doubtless impacted many in the crowd. For the benefit of our readers, could you please share what led you to become a patient advocate?

Alfred Samuels: When I talk about a disease that changed me, I talk about prostate cancer. In early 2012, I was shocked to be diagnosed with an advanced metastatic form of prostate cancer.

Bartu Ahiska: We met again earlier this year when you joined former Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Rishi Sunak, at Oxford BioDynamics’ clinical laboratory in Oxford. I was very glad to see that you are not only doing well, but also thriving and more impassioned to raise awareness than ever. How do you reflect on your journey now?

Alfred Samuels: My doctor told me to think short term rather than long term. There is no doubt in my mind that I have been fortunate to remain alive, with my condition well managed 13 years later.

Bartu Ahiska: Alfred, you have been advocating strongly for improved prostate cancer detection. You have said that it should send alarm bells that black men, like yourself, are twice as likely to be diagnosed and die from prostate cancer than other men. This is a truly staggering statistic. What is your key message going forward regarding this?

Alfred Samuels: We need to set up a national prostate screening program in the UK, now, before more men die from prostate cancer.

Using next generation approaches, such as the accurate EpiSwitch PSE blood test, means they can detect more prostate cancers earlier, without overburdening the health system with the false positives that arise from using the standard PSA test alone.

Bartu Ahiska: Dear Alfred, thank you for your powerful advocacy and for sharing your personal experience.

Alfred Samuels: Thank you very much for listening.

You can watch Alfred Samuels talking to Bartu Ahiska here.

This Men’s Health Month, we encourage men to speak with their doctor and explore their personal risk of developing prostate cancer. The EpiSwitch PSE blood test offers 94% accuracy, helping to detect prostate cancer earlier when it is most treatable and reduce unnecessary biopsies.

Learn more about the EpiSwitch PSE test: http://94percent.com

The PSE can be ordered by any private doctor, including anywhere in the UK through the Goodbody Clinic. The test is also eligible for reimbursement for Bupa health insurance members seeing a consultant with a moderately raised PSA level.

To hear more from Alfred Samuels talking about fighting for his life and his journey from an advanced prostate cancer survivor to advocating for fellow cancer survivors here, please follow this link: https://asurvivoramongstsurvivors.com