British actor Colin McFarlane has shared that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Colin, known for his performance in the Dark Knight trilogy, was diagnosed in December 2022, just nine months after his brother learned that he also had the disease.
As reported by the PA news agency, the 61-year-old learned of his condition after a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, which can be given to men without symptoms after a consultation with a doctor.
He also said he’d been tested regularly since a fellow actor – who had been treated for prostate cancer almost two decades earlier – told him of the disease’s prevalence among Black men.
“I was already aware of the risk to me, so had been having annual and then six-monthly regular PSA blood tests with my GP,” he explained.
“Thankfully, just over a year ago, I had told my brother to get a PSA blood test otherwise he wouldn’t have been diagnosed, because he had no symptoms.”
Colin noted that he does not require treatment, describing himself as “one of the lucky ones”, and is instead being monitored with PSA blood tests every three months and an annual MRI exam.
“As it’s a very slow-moving cancer I am in the best possible position to ascertain what treatment I would need in the future if that were ever deemed necessary, and currently that scenario is a long way off,” he explained.
“It’s men who take no action and don’t know anything about their prostate health that are at the greatest risk.”
Colin has joined forces with the charity Prostate Cancer UK for their new awareness campaign, encouraging Black men over the age of 45 to take a PSA test.
“Too many men Black men are dying from prostate cancer,” he said. “They need to know that a simple blood test could save their life.”
Colin is perhaps best known for playing police commissioner Gillian B. Loeb in Batman Begins and its sequel, The Dark Knight.
His additional on-screen credits include Doctor Who, playing Moran, and lending his voice to the ITV game show The Cube.