Sir Michael Parkinson: 'I Have Prostate Cancer' [VIDEO]

The 78-year-old journalist and broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson has revealed he has prostate cancer and says he will continue working while undergoing treatment.

Parkinson is reported to be undergoing radiotherapy following the detection of an enlarged prostate during a routine medical in October last year.

"I have prostate cancer - and I must admit it is a bore. I am 78. Of course mortality is on the mind. But I'm not afraid," he told The Sun on Sunday.

"I have been told to expect to make a full recovery. And that is the goal.

"My wife Mary has been a tremendous support and while she has been, of course, very upset, she can see how I have approached this. Once she realised I wouldn't let it affect me, Mary was fine.

"I don't feel ill. And I will keep working. I have no intention of stopping working."

He has urged other men to get themselves checked as he launches a campaign to raise awareness of the disease.

The test measures the amount of Prostate Specific Antigen, a protein produced by the prostate gland and which can be detected in blood samples.

Parkinson was diagnosed with cancer in May and began treatment in at Cromwell Hospital in South Kensington, London.

He said he was not "playing down" the situation, adding: "The point I want to make is that if prostate cancer is identifiable early, it is treatable and curable."

He urged men to test themselves while urinating. He said if, while at a urinal, a man could not hit the wall from 2ft, they should get themselves checked by a doctor.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK. More than 40,000 new cases are diagnosed every year.

The disease claims the lives of more than 10,000 men in the UK every year yet, unlike breast cancer, there is no national screening programme for the disease.

Sir Michael is best known for his chat show Parkinson, which ran from 1971 to 1982 and 1998 to 2007.

In a career spanning 50 years, Parkinson was described by The Guardian as "the great British talk show host". By his own reckoning, he has interviewed 2,000 of the world's biggest celebrities.

These include Marlon Brando, Fred Astaire, Orson Welles, Sir Paul McCartney, Madonna, Mick Jagger and George Michael. His biggest regret was not having the chance to meet Frank Sinatra on his chat show.

Parkinson revealed that the most remarkable person he ever interviewed was the boxer Muhammad Ali.

Watch highlights of Parkinson's encounters with Ali below.