Stuart Gizzi: Prevention, decisiveness and early action

Inta CEO Stuart Gizzi

Inta CEO Stuart Gizzi has shared his experience of being diagnosed with prostate cancer in his late 50s, and why too many men still leave testing too late:

Now the noise of Movember has died down, here's what actually matters. And I should say, well done to everyone who took part – the awareness and fundraising matters more than ever.

Movember rightly shines a light on a range of men's health issues, from mental health to testicular cancer and prostate cancer. I can only speak with authority about one of them. I did not die from prostate cancer, diagnosed 20 years ago.

We work in a male-dominated industry where many people make their living fixing things that break. What we sometimes forget is that we also make money from maintenance. That applies to our bodies as much as our systems.

At Intatec, we have spent decades designing and supplying devices you never notice because they have done their job. Quiet safety measures, built in early, because waiting for harm to happen is never acceptable.

I am 77 now. In my late 50s, a simple PSA blood test showed I had prostate cancer. Back then, luck played a bigger part than it should have in whether you were screened. Mine was caught early and treated successfully with radiotherapy.

The treatment does knock you for six. But it does not kill you. Ignoring cancer does.

Early action gives you options. It is the difference between something manageable and months, sometimes years, of consequences.

In recent years, public figures including cyclist Sir Chris Hoy, broadcaster Dermot Murnaghan, former Prime Minister David Cameron and Sir Cliff Richard have spoken openly about their prostate cancer diagnoses. They all say the same thing. Early detection matters.

And while he is not a celebrity, Clive Reeves from our PR team also had prostate cancer diagnosed at 57 and treated early after a PSA test was included in blood tests investigating constant fatigue. 

Like me, he chose radiotherapy. He says the main side effect has been fatigue. Four years on, he says he is full of life again, although, looking at him, it’s difficult to tell.

What matters is this. A PSA test is a blood test. It is not invasive. It is not automatic. It starts with a conversation with your GP, and you decide what happens next.

This is where I struggle with the mixed messages coming from the NHS and Government. On the one hand, we are told, rightly, that early diagnosis saves lives. On the other, prostate cancer still sits outside any routine screening programme. That gap has become harder to ignore, and the message men hear now is more muddled, not less.

In reality, my experience, and Clive's, is that any man who asks his GP for a PSA test is very unlikely to be turned away unless he is well below the usual age range. What worries me is not access, but behaviour.

When the message is unclear, men fill in the gaps themselves. They tell themselves the test is not perfect, that it can wait, that it is probably nothing. And because most men still avoid talking about intimate health unless something forces the issue, delay becomes the default.

I have seen too many sensible men use uncertainty as a reason to do nothing.

When systems hesitate, people delay. And delay is exactly what early diagnosis is supposed to prevent.

Clive and I are both alive because of early testing. That is not theory. It is fact.

If you are over 50, or over 45 with a family history, or if you are a Black man, that conversation with your GP becomes even more important. And if you are noticing changes, difficulty passing urine, getting up repeatedly at night, or constant unexplained tiredness, do not brush it off.

At Inta, we give people time off to attend GP appointments because we know an hour at the GP is worth more than a week of worry. And if you are self-employed, as many plumbers and installers are, you need to make that time yourself.

After Movember, and all the campaigning that comes with it, the new year feels like the right moment to stop talking and do one simple thing. Ask the question. Get the test.

An hour at the GP costs very little. Letting cancer take hold could cost you months off work, or worse.

If the idea of going straight to your GP feels like a big step, Prostate Cancer UK has clear, practical information and a confidential specialist nurse helpline where you can talk things through first.

Either way, do not put it off.

Do not let 2026 be the year prostate cancer gets you.

We all start a new year with plans to do more and earn more. None of it matters if you are not well enough to enjoy it.

There is a lot to look forward to in 2026. Make sure you are around, and fit enough, to be part of it"