Al Roker Announces Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

In a candid announcement on the Today Show on Friday, anchor Al Roker revealed that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and plans to undergo surgery to have his prostate removed.

With his trademark positive attitude, Roker explained how a routine checkup in September identified elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. PSA, a protein produced by cells in the prostate gland, can be a signal that cancer is present when it appears in high levels in the blood.

“It’s a good news, bad news kind of thing,” Roker said in the announcement. “Good news is we caught it early, not great news is that it’s a little aggressive, so I’m going to be taking some time off to take care of this.”

As Roker went on to explain, prostate cancer is “a little more common than people realize”, with one in nine men being diagnosed in their lifetimes. But, as he noted, that number is as high as one in seven in African American men. The disease can also be more deadly in this population, which is why Roker has said that he’s chosen to go public about his diagnosis.

“If you detect it early, this is a really treatable disease, and that’s why I wanted to take you along on my journey, so we can all learn together how to educate and protect the men in our lives,” said Roker.