Sir Chris Hoy says new trial drug ‘may well have cracked it’ | Other | Sport

Sir Chris Hoy has shared an update on his health condition almost three years after receiving his stage four prostate cancer diagnosis. The 50-year-old six-time Olympic gold medallist originally revealed he had been given four years to live when he announced his devastating diagnosis in September 2023. Should that prognosis prove correct, the celebrated cyclist would tragically have fewer than 18 months remaining.

Yet in his most recent update, one of Britain’s greatest ever Olympians said he was doing his best to “hang in there” for as long as possible, in the hope that new treatments could emerge to extend his life. Sir Chris has expressed his belief that artificial intelligence could play a pivotal role in developing new medicines, explaining: “It’s going relatively well and I’m just kind of cracking on with life. You’ve got to find a way to enjoy the moment and enjoy the day, but also put faith in the people who are doing all these incredible things.

“There could be an amazing treatment just around the corner if you can hang in there. There are a lot of issues with AI in the future and we have got to manage it well, but one of the real positives of AI has to be in the field of medicine and the rate at which we can develop and optimise new drugs for treatment in the future,” reports the Mirror.

Sir Chris also spoke on his podcast Sporting Misadventures about how the progress of immunotherapy treatments had given him encouragement, highlighting their ability to target cancer cells directly without causing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. However, he acknowledged that immunotherapy had not been an option for him due to the specific type of cancer he has been diagnosed with.

He went on to say: “There is a new trial drug which may well have cracked it and it should be available relatively soon. By all accounts, it’s having remarkable success in terms of the number of patients in the trial who have responded well to it.”

Sir Chris’ update comes just a few months after he launched a campaign to raise awareness of the condition, joining forces with rugby player Kenny Logan earlier this year to spearhead a screening initiative.

The campaign aimed to urge men to come forward and get tested so that potential cases of the cancer could be identified at an earlier stage. The response was overwhelming, with around 6,000 men signing up to the Scottish Prostate Cancer Initiative within just seven days.

Reflecting on the profound impact prostate cancer has had on his life, Sir Chris said: “A stage four diagnosis changes your life drastically, but I guess it’s about finding a new purpose. Today’s event is all about trying to educate men about the importance of catching prostate cancer early. Early detection saves lives – that is the message to take away.”