By Jane Elliott BBC News, Health reporter

Matt got himself as fit as possible

When doctors told Matt Rannamets he had just two years to live, he was determined not to just give up.

Although his prostate cancer was well advanced and highly aggressive, he decided to get his body into the best possible shape.

He switched to a low fat diet and stopped eating dairy products, red meat and sugar. He started to exercise more and take better care of his body.

Advanced disease

Matt had noticed that he needed to go to the toilet more at night, but for six months he ignored his symptoms, pushing them to the back of his mind.

When he mentioned them to his doctor in December 2003, he ordered a PSA test.

This detects levels of prostate specific antigen, a protein made by the prostate gland, which naturally leaks out into the bloodstream.

Sometimes a raised PSA level can be a sign of prostate cancer.

A normal reading is 0-4 nanograms per millilitre of blood. Matt's PSA level was 153.

I wanted to be as fit as possible for the treatment. Matt Rannamets

Matt needed a biopsy, but the results showed that not only was his tumour very aggressive, but also that it had spread to the surrounding tissue.

"That was not good news and the prognosis was pretty poor," said 60-year-old Matt.

"The doctor said I had two to three years and they could not remove the tumour surgically," he said.

He was put onto hormone treatment.

Therapy

Then Matt, from St. Albans, was referred to University College, London, for high dose brachytherapy - where high doses of radiation are targeted specifically into the prostate.

"This specific sort of brachytherapy is not available everywhere in the UK and I was extremely fortunate to get it," he said.

Matt, a retired tax man, decided to give himself the best possible chance to fight the cancer.

Many men do not know where their prostate is located

"I had heard that a change in diet and lifestyle could help, so I got myself fitter and healthier. I wanted to be as fit as possible for the treatment."

He had the brachytherapy in November 2004, followed up by six weeks of radiation to mop up any wandering cancer cells.

The results were spectacular.

"It went extremely well and I feel my fitness levels helped me fight it.

"When they looked at my PSA levels it had gone down to 0.2." This suggested the treatment was working.

If we catch it early it is curable with radical surgery or radical radiotherapy, but if it spreads outside the prostate it could be difficult to cure Professor John Masters

"I am still taking one of my two hormone drugs, but I might be able to stop taking that too this summer if I continue to do as well.

"My first prognosis was terminal - now I have an indefinite life span."

Although he is recovering so well, Matt said he blamed himself for his cancer becoming so advanced.

"If I had gone to the doctor six months before I did, my case would have been much more straight forward and it might not have spread to the surrounding tissue.

"I would say to anybody experiencing these symptoms go to your doctor as early as possible."

Statistics

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men. Every three minutes a man is diagnosed with the disease and one million men are being treated for the condition worldwide.

But despite prostate cancer being the second leading cause of deaths among men, with a life lost to the disease every six minutes, it is a taboo subject for many men, who can feel too embarrassed to mention the condition.

As part of their awareness campaign, Prostate Cancer Research is encouraging more men to talk about the disease and is raising awareness of the risk factors and symptoms that men, their wives and mums should be looking out for.

Often the symptoms of prostate cancer only start to show once the disease is fairly advanced but men should be alert if they start needing to urinate frequently or if they have difficulty in urinating.

Prostate cancer research director John Masters, professor of experimental pathology at University College, London, said that men of Afro-Caribbean descent are three times more likely to develop prostate cancer than the average male, while those with a father or son who has had the disease is twice as likely to be diagnosed.

Others at higher risk include those over 50s, men with an enlarged prostate and men who enjoy a diet high in saturated fat and who smoke.

Professor Masters said some men were too embarrassed to talk to their doctor about their symptoms.

But he warned this could be costing their lives.