Prostate cancer - the low key killer that must be stopped.

The Scottish figures are a little different, with breast cancer killing 1,000 women a year while prostate cancer kills 900 men.

But Prostate Cancer UK says the latest statistics should act as a wake-up call for anyone who still may have imagined that this disease is somehow minor, in demographic terms, compared to the ones we hear about all the time.

The only good news, in relative terms, is that while more men are developing the disease and dying from it the mortality rate has fallen by around six per cent.

But Prostate Cancer UK is concerned that much less funding is spent on research than on breast cancer, at a time when the mortality from breast cancer has fallen much more sharply.

Sometimes the disease takes so long to get a grip on its victims they don’t notice anything’s amiss for years.

The symptoms are often linked to issues around urination - for example needing to urinate more often, or having difficulty starting.

Men with a male relative who has been a sufferer can be at risk, as are men over 50 and black men generally.

But one of the biggest risks is that men - in some cases hoping a medical problem will just go away - often don’t know any of the symptoms, or ignore them.

Have you or someone in your family suffered from prostate cancer, and if so are you up to talking about that experience?

If so drop us an email at [email protected]