| "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. " " 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. " " This detects levels of prostate specific antigen, a protein made by the prostate gland, which naturally leaks out into the bloodstream. " " A normal reading is 0-4 nanograms per millilitre of blood. Matt's PSA level was 153. " " 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. " " 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. " " "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. " " "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" " "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. " " 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
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