Jeremy Clarkson has said he avoided some of the most feared consequences of prostate cancer surgery after undergoing the same advanced treatment previously received by former Prime Minister David Cameron.
The broadcaster and farmer revealed that he had highly targeted focal therapy, a technique designed to treat the cancer while reducing the risk of side effects including erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence.
Following his disclosure, a prostate cancer charity urged wider NHS adoption of the minimally invasive procedure, which it says could be suitable for as many as 17,000 men each year.
Clarkson, 66, shared on Clarkson’s Farm last week that he was diagnosed with “aggressive” prostate cancer in May last year, but said doctors found it early. Speaking to tomorrow’s Sunday Times, he said the disease “could have spread” and that, had it done so, “that would have been trouble”.
He underwent treatment in London last August. It has not been disclosed whether he received high-intensity focused ultrasound, known as HIFU, through the NHS or privately. The treatment uses focused sound waves to destroy cancerous tissue.
On his Amazon Prime series, Clarkson explained the procedure to Kaleb Cooper, 27, the manager of his Oxfordshire farm, Diddly Squat, saying: “You know the prostate – 10 per cent of it is dead, the 10 per cent where the cancer is.”
He added: “They use ultrasound. Have you ever got a magnifying glass on a piece of paper on a sunny day? They do that but with sound waves. They direct them on to the cancer and blitz it.”
Lord Cameron, 59, and Conservative peer Sir Graham Brady, also 59, have also undergone focal therapy for prostate cancer.
In the series five finale of Clarkson’s Farm, Jeremy, 66, revealed he had been diagnosed and had to undergo treatment for a malignant tumour in his prostate last August. Here he is pictured in a hospital bed during one moment of the new season
Clarkson and his partner Lisa Hogan attend The Sunday Times AA Gill Award for emerging food critics at The River Cafe
It uses high-frequency sound waves, cold gases via needle-thin probes or electrical pulses to generate heat or cold to destroy cancerous cells.
Instead of removing or irradiating the entire prostate, as with surgery or radiotherapy, focal therapies target only the cancerous area, preserving as much healthy tissue as possible.
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But just seven NHS hospitals in London and the South East offer the treatment, which benefits men with early stage prostate cancer.
Around 17,000 men of the 63,000 diagnosed each year with prostate cancer could be suited to focal therapy but are rarely offered it within the NHS, says the charity Prost8 UK which campaigns for it to be rolled out nationwide.
Prost8 founder and prostate cancer survivor Paul Sayer, 69, who refused surgery or radiotherapy and was successfully treated with focal therapy, said the NHS betrayed thousands of men.
He said this ‘type of minimally invasive treatment’ he and Clarkson received should be ‘benefiting thousands of men on the NHS’.
But ‘many clinicians are wedded to invasive types of treatment which are not needed by many with early stage prostate cancer’.
Mr Sayer compared this to ‘going into hospital for treatment for an ingrowing toenail and waking up to find they amputated your foot’, adding: ‘It cured the issue but at an unnecessary lifestyle cost.’
The final episode of Clarkson’s Farm concluded with the presenter telling viewers: ‘If this is all successful I’ll see you for season six and if it isn’t I won’t. Take care everyone’ (seen with partner Lisa Hogan)
He revealed on the series, filmed from late 2024 to September 2025, how he had been diagnosed in May last year, and told farm pal Kaleb Cooper that ten per cent of his prostate ‘where the cancer is’ is ‘dead’
It is estimated more than 500,000 men are living with prostate cancer – and unlike breast, bowel and lung cancer, there is no national screening programme.
Of the 63,000 diagnosed annually more than 12,000 will die because it wasn’t spotted early enough.
The NHS is rolling out high-powered precision radiotherapy called SABR to target the disease more effectively and reduce the side-effects of conventional radiotherapy.
A spokesman said guidance notes ‘limited evidence on the effectiveness of cryotherapy and high-intensity focused ultrasound’ and ‘does not recommend they are made routinely available on the NHS’.
