Andrew Lloyd Webber, the composer, is receiving treatment for early-stage prostate cancer, a spokesman disclosed yesterday.

Lord Lloyd-Webber, who is best known for musicals such as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Evita and The Phantom of the Opera, is understood to have received the diagnosis within the last few weeks following a biopsy.

Cancer of the prostate affects about 35,000 men in the UK annually. It is the most common cancer among British men, accounting for a quarter of all cases, and about 10,000 deaths each year.

A spokesman for Lord Lloyd-Webber, 61, said that the composer was suffering from early-stage cancer, meaning that the disease was low-grade, with cancerous cells found only in the prostate.

Brown Lloyd James, the public relations company, confirmed that Lord Lloyd-Webber had been admitted to hospital for a few days for treatment, but a spokesman added that no further details were being released.

A statement said: “Andrew Lloyd Webber has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The condition is in its very early stages.Andrew is now undergoing treatment and expects to be fully back at work before the end of the year.”

Lord Lloyd-Webber, whose other hit musicals include Jesus Christ Superstar and Starlight Express, launched the long-awaited sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies, at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London earlier this month. Rehearsals for the new show are due to begin in January.

Next year the impresario is also due to launch a television show to find a Dorothy and Toto for a new theatrical production of The Wizard of Oz. He has already taken part in three BBC series, to find leads for the West End musicals How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, Any Dream Will Do and Oliver!

There are three treatment options for men with an early-stage prostate cancer diagnosis: watch and wait, radiotherapy, and surgery.

Age is the most common risk factor for the disease. The cancer mainly affects men over the age of 50, and two-thirds of those diagnosed are 65 or older.

About three quarters of men who receive a prostate cancer diagnosis are alive five years later – up from 30 per cent in the 1970s. The proportion rises to 90 per cent if the cancer is an early stage, but drops to just 30 per cent if it has already spread by the time it is diagnosed.

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