The 55-year-old director has revealed he was diagnosed with the illness shortly before he started filming his new World War II movie Blitz and pushed the shoot back by two weeks so he could undergo surgery to remove a cancerous tumour but he was determined to keep working despite his health crisis.
He told Deadline.com: "(I) discovered that I had developed this cancer, this tumour, a small tumour, and therefore obviously caught it very, very, early. I delayed the shoot by two weeks and then had the procedure."
He spent two days in hospital and then had almost two weeks off before he got back to work on the film. He added: "I was just doing stuff in bed on the computer, working, emailing and whatever, but I kept it private at that stage ...Â
"Two weeks after the procedure I was on set shooting (the film)."
McQueen revealed he didn't tell any of the Blitz cast and crew about his illness because he didn't want them to be 'concerned" and only his wife and close family members knew about it.
He added: "I really just wanted to get on with the job. And that's kind of like who I am. I'm a 'get on with it' kind of person."
The moviemaker added that he's now "fully recovered and fully functional" and puts his recovery down to discovering the cancer early.
He explained: "The cancer's gone and that's down to early detection ... It's a cancer that if you detect early, it's totally survivable and curable."
McQueen - whose father died of the same cancer - had regular check-ups and he is adamant men shouldn't ignore potential problems and they should take part in regular screenings to make sure any issues are picked up early.
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