COUNTY NEWS: Condom boss diets to beat cancer

And it was his experience of different cuisines which helped him to develop a diet which he said has cured him of prostate cancer.

Clive, 70, from Ferring, was first diagnosed with prostate cancer eight years ago, and also lost his father Harold and brother Barry to the disease.

After an unsuccessful period of brachytherapy, which involves inserting small radioactive implants into the prostate, Clive was told the cancer could not be cured.

“When I was first told I had cancer, I started to talk to a National Trust person to get a bench to mark my passing, and I thought about whether I should be buried or cremated.

“It was during that period that I started putting together what I thought would be a good diet.”

He delayed hormone therapy so he could start his diet, which includes soya products, brazil nuts, calves liver, tomatoes and other fruit and vegetables high in anti-oxidants. It is based on Asian and Mediterranean cuisines that Clive tried on his travels, and according to his research they are areas with low incidence of prostate cancer.

After two months, the level of cancer antigens in Clive’s blood rose from a reading of 7.2 to nine – but he persevered, and two months later it started to drop. Today it is at 0.09, three points below the safe level of four.

“Every day of the week, I am assaulting the cancer because of my diet. It isn’t like a six week bout of chemotherapy,” he said.

Clive said his urologist is ‘amazed’ and now advises GPs on the value of diet. His brother Clifford, who also has prostate cancer, started Clive’s diet two months ago and saw his antigen levels decrease.

Clive has also written a book about his cancer battle and his career, which saw him commission the first television advert for condoms in the 1980s.