Stephen Fry has been diagnosed with prostate cancer

Stephen Fry has announced that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer in a 12 minute video.

The 60-year-old British national treasure tweeted the clip with the words: "For the last 2 months I've been in the throes of a rather unwelcome and unexpected adventure. I'm sorry I haven't felt able to talk about it till now, but here I am explaining what has been going on."

He then revealed the news in the video that he discovered he had cancer in his prostate following an MRI scan.

Fry, who has 13.1m followers on the social media platform, was inundated with messages of support.

One person said: "Oh no. I hope you're ok now and making a full recovery. Never heard of a PSA good reminder for many of us. You're such an inspiration in many ways. Stay well. Glad you are enjoying life, that's the hardest part."

While someone else said: "Stephen, you always supported us @ProstateUK during my time there - particularly during Jeffs Stelling's March and campaign season. Please know you're not alone, and that talking openly and honestly about your experiences is very brave. Wishing you well."

A third added: "Hope this encourages many men to go get their PSA levels checked (and understand the process a bit better if something gets picked up)."

Fry described his cancer as "an aggressive little bugger" despite doctors removing his prostate in January. He said that he hopes the cancer is gone for good but needs more test results to be sure.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, with over 40,000 new cases diagnosed every year. It usually develops slowly so there many be no signs of the disease for many years.

Symptoms often become apparent when the prostate is large enough to affect the urethra – which is the tube that carries urine from the bladder to the penis.

As it stands, there is no single test for prostate cancer, and all the tests used to help the diagnose the condition have benefits and risks. The most commonly used tests for prostate are blood tests, a physical examination of your prostate – known as a digital rectal examination of DRE – and a biopsy.