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| Sunshine Magazine |
Sir Ian McKellen has
been battling prostate cancer for nearly "six or seven years".
The 73-year-old star often fears it "could be the end
of the road" when he goes for a HIV test, but he now lives happily with
the potentially life-threatening disease.
"You do gulp when you hear the news. It's like when you
go for an HIV test; you go 'arghhh is this end of the road?' They say you have
cancer of the prostate and then that you can have it zapped," he recently
told The Sunshine Magazine Online
"You can have it snipped but you are not a candidate
for that. You are waitful watching."
'It's no big deal'
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey actor - who portrays
Gandalf the Grey in the film series - revealed his is yet to receive any
treatment for prostate cancer and insists it is "no big deal'.
"I've had it for six or seven years, when you have got
it you monitor it and you have to be careful it doesn't spread," he
explained.
"But if it is contained in the prostate it's no big
deal. Many, many men die from it but it's one of the cancers that is totally
treatable so I have 'waitful watching'.
"I am examined regularly and it's just contained, it's
not spreading. I've not had any treatment."
'You keep being tested'
Despite also suffering from a cataract and hearing problems,
Ian - who realized there was something wrong when he kept going to the toilet
in the middle of the night - insists he is "absolutely fine" even
though doctors are "concerned" about the cancer spreading.
He added to the newspaper: "You are told what the
situation is: you can have an operation but there is no point me having an
operation because there is no need for it.
"They are concerned about the cancer spreading outside
the prostate. If it doesn't you are fine. How do you know if it is spreading?
You keep being tested.
"I just got hearing aids, I am going to have a cataract
removed from my eyes, I am having an implant in my mouth, I am dealing with the
prostate cancer... I am absolutely fine thank you very much!"
