The health secretary has ordered a review of NHS guidance on testing for prostate cancer following “powerful” calls from Sir Chris Hoy, who said easrlier screenings could save “potentially millions of lives”.

The six-time Olympic cycling champion revealed last month that his cancer is terminal after he first made public in February that he was undergoing treatment, including chemotherapy.

He is urging men with a family history of the disease to consider seeing their GP, and for more men to be aware of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test to check for the disease.

Both Sir Chris’s grandfather and father had prostate cancer, which can run in families.

“If you’ve got family history of it, like I have, if you’re over the age of 45, go and ask your doctor,” Sir Chris told BBC Breakfast