Men urged to pull their fingers out this Christmas

But prostate cancer survivors and the families of those who didn't make it want more men to know they only need to ask their GP for a simple blood test - not the dreaded digital rectal exam - to find out if they are at risk.

That other test may come later, says survivor Rick Bennett, 51, but it's a small price to pay for a clean bill of health.

"At the end of the day, if that's the worst thing that's going to happen - if it happened to you to save your life - yeah, I'm willing to put up with a digit," Mr Bennett told AAP from his home in Hobart.

Mr Bennett was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2019 after a routine check-up encouraged by a "proactive" GP.

He had been having checks every other year since turning 40.

At first the levels were so low, it was recommended to just wait and keep watch with regular checks. Many men can live with a low level prostate cancer for decades and die of something completely different.

The potential risks involved in its removal can be life-altering - incontinence and erectile dysfunction are the most common.

And for Mr Bennett, an avid cyclist, the prospect of not being able to ride again for fear of bladder control was upsetting.

But when his doctor found a nodule after three years, Mr Bennett knew he had to take action.

"When I found out I had no choice but to have the prostate removed, and I had all that knowledge, my heart just sunk," he said.

"I still think about it today. I still get a bit emotional."

On November 16 last year, Mr Bennett underwent a radical prostatectomy to have his prostate removed.

This weekend, he hopes to complete a challenge he set himself to cycle 5000km before the end of the year.

The operation has been a complete success - he is cancer-free and has bounced back thanks to hard work on his rehab with a specialised pelvic physio.

"My pelvic floor muscle is perfect now," he said proudly.

By the time he was competing in Melbourne's Around the Bay cycling event in October, his temporary erectile dysfunction had corrected itself too, he says.

"About the same time, everything came back there and it started working again. So I'm living a happy life now," he said.

Sadly, not everyone enjoys such success.

While prostate cancer is one of the most statistically survivable cancers, that's only if it is caught early, says Anne Savage, CEO of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA).

"By the time symptoms present, the disease is typically advanced and spread beyond the prostate," she said.

"We still lose 10 men every single day."

There are a quarter of a million Australian men alive today who have been diagnosed with the disease, she adds.

"That means that we can never afford to ignore the impact that it has on their lives. We absolutely must do more to raise awareness of early detection and to support men when it strikes," she said.

TV journalist Michelle Bishop's dad Allan Keighran was also diagnosed in 2019, but after a long, hard battle, he lost his fight to cancer this year and the family is preparing for their first Christmas without him.

"Dad had (all the tests) on his birthday every year so he knew he wouldn't forget," Mrs Bishop said.

"Everything was fine in the November. In about late-January, he started to ... get up and go to the toilet in the night a lot.

"In the February, he finally got himself off to the doctor and had the test and it came back he was already at stage four."

Mr Keighran threw everything at it - traditional medicines, all the natural therapies, even a trial therapy from the US and a very expensive juicer. But eventually he succumbed.

"He was 68 years of age and he was the world to us," Mrs Bishop said.

"He was the fittest person in our family ... he'd have a drink maybe once a week and on occasions, never touched a cigarette in his life or drugs or anything like that. He was always still the life of the party.

"I feel like we've been ripped off."

Now an ambassador for PCFA, Mrs Bishop has channelled her grief into action, determined that every father, husband, son and brother are given the best chance of surviving by getting tested early.

She even prompted the guys renovating her kitchen to go and get checked recently, which was fortunate as one of their PSA blood tests was high.

"I was so proud to be able to just spark that conversation," she said.

"Not to have that 'oh, you'd better not talk about that, that's inappropriate, that's going over the top, that's someone else's business' thing.

"If you're sitting at the dinner table tonight, don't, don't hesitate to ask the question.

"Put a little 'P.S'. in your Christmas card this year. It costs nothing - just a little reminder."

Australian Associated Press