by King did not reveal the type of cancer he was diagnosed with, but it was discovered after receiving treatment for a benign prostate enlargement.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said it was during this corrective surgery that “a particular concern was noted and subsequently diagnosed as a form of cancer”.
The risk of developing cancer increases with age and more people are diagnosed in their 70s than in any other decade.
Prostate cancer is the most common type in men aged 75 and over, accounting for 25 per cent of cases each year, but the Palace confirmed that the monarch, who had recovered 75 last November.
Lung cancer is the second most common, accounting for 16 percent of cancers among people age 75 and older. Although smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, King Charles has not smoked since he picked up a cigarette as a schoolboy.
Bowel cancer is the third most common form of the disease, accounting for 14 percent of cancers in men aged 75 and over. Symptoms include blood in the bowels or stools.
Bladder cancer is the fourth most common, accounting for six per cent of cancers in men of King’s age. The symptoms are similar to symptoms of an enlarged prostate, or prostate cancer, including a frequent need to urinate, a burning sensation and blood in the urine. The reason the symptoms are similar is because an enlarged prostate presses on the bladder and the tube takes the urine from the bladder to leave the body.
Praise for openness
The monarch was praised for sharing his diagnosis of an enlarged prostate in the hope that other men would get tested themselves. Announcing the King’s cancer diagnosis on Monday, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said the monarch hoped the announcement could “help public understanding of those around the world affected by cancer”.
The Palace said the King would be receiving regular outpatient day treatment, suggesting he will undergo chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy or a combination.
Chemotherapy is delivered through the blood and works by stopping the cancer cells from growing, dividing and spreading, while radiotherapy is aimed at the specific tumor site and aims to kill the cancer cells. However, it can also damage surrounding healthy cells.
Immunotherapies alert the immune system to the presence of cancer, which would otherwise go unnoticed, and stimulate the body’s defenses to attack and destroy the cancer.
It is also possible that some type of day case surgery may be performed depending on the location of the cancer, which may help prevent its spread.
The type of treatment varies depending on the specific type of cancer and the stage at which it was diagnosed.
Bladder cancer, for example, in its most treatable form, may involve a transurethral resection of the bladder suction, which involves cutting the tumor off the bladder while under general anaesthetic, followed by a dose of chemotherapy.
This may extend to several rounds of chemotherapy, or the use of radiotherapy and even removal of the entire bladder in the most serious cases. However, the treatment plan described by the palace suggests that this is unlikely.
Bowel cancer can affect the colon and the rectal area, and in both cases surgery to remove the part of the organ where the disease is most common, if it has not spread.
Patients with colon cancer then receive chemotherapy, or a combination of chemo and radiotherapy if it is rectal disease.
Non-small cell lung cancer is usually treated with surgery, removing the cancer cells. Additional surgeries may be offered to remove larger parts of the lung if it has spread. If surgery is not possible, targeted radiotherapy will be offered.
An increasing number of immunotherapy drugs are being approved for this type of lung cancer.
More aggressive small cell lung cancer usually spreads to other parts of the body, making it untreatable. Chemotherapy is usually offered to prolong life.
Survival rates
Survival rates vary by cancer. While 80 per cent of men in their 70s will live for at least five years after a skin cancer diagnosis, this drops to 10 per cent of those with lung cancer, and less than five per cent with brain cancer , pancreas or liver.
The average five-year survival rate for men in their 70s diagnosed with bladder or bowel cancer is almost 60 per cent.
As with all cancers, the earlier it is caught and treatment begins, the higher the survival rate.
In December, the King chose a doctor who advocates the use of homoeopathic medicines to lead the medical wing of the Royal Family.
Dr Michael Dixon is a practicing GP who has argued that traditional medicines can play an important role in patient care. He now heads the Royal Medical Household, the medical wing of the services that assist the monarch.
The doctor was previously medical adviser to the monarch when he was Prince of Wales, when King Charles’s support for the complementary use of homeopathic medicine alongside other treatments was well documented.
Dr Dixon has long advocated a complementary or “integrative” approach, and in 1999 he wrote a paper in which he said it could be an effective adjunct to the treatment of chronically ill patients in general practice if seen by spiritual healers.
Where will the King come?
The King began treatment in London as an outpatient on Monday morning and remained in the capital overnight, the Palace said.
It is expected that he will continue receiving treatment in London and therefore, it is likely that most of the monarch’s time will be spent at Clarence House, his home near Buckingham Palace.
During corrective treatment for an enlarged prostate, he was treated at the private London clinic located in Marylebone, Central London, but it is not known where he will be receiving his outpatient treatment for this diagnosis.
Depending on where he wants to recover after treatment, he may choose to travel the two-hour journey to his private home in Highgrove, Gloucestershire.
The King returned to London from his Sandringham estate in Norfolk where he spent the weekend, having chosen to return there following his corrective surgery.
He was pictured smiling and laughing as he made the short walk to attend St Mary Magdalene church on Sunday with the Queen.
The royal couple are known to prefer spending time at their family home in Highgrove, so he may choose to recuperate quietly there, rather than in the busy capital.
It is unlikely that he would choose Balmoral, the Royal Scottish estate, to visit but he might decide to visit Windsor Castle, where he would be closer to the Prince of Wales and his three grandchildren.
This is where the princess of Wales, who was last seen in public at Sandringham church on Christmas Day, is recovering from major abdominal surgery, surrounded by familiar surroundings at home and her children, who attend a nearby school Windsor estate.
Wherever the King decides to recover, the public is unlikely to see him out and about as he has postponed all public appearances and engagements while undergoing treatment for a cancer diagnosis.
Previously, the King had a non-cancerous growth from the bridge of his nose removed in a minor procedure and in 2003 he had a hernia operation at the private King Edward VII Hospital in London.
The hospital in Marylebone has treated members of the Royal family for generations, including the late Queen Elizabeth II and the late Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip.
The Duchess of York recently underwent a single mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery by King Edward VII after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023.
