Famous Prostate Men

 

Every cancer is traumatic, but when you get prostate or breast cancer, it really messes with your self-esteem.

Men get prostate cancer as frequently as women get breast cancer, yet I’m personally aware of only two men who’ve been treated for prostate cancer, while I know a bunch of women who’ve had breast cancer. I think the reason is that women share their struggles more often.

As I do research to understand my cancer, the names of famous men keep showing up. Most of the names are of those who did not survive. I suspect that those who lived chose to keep their news private. The famous who died, and had their obits in the newspaper, didn’t have a choice. There are also countless unknown men whose deaths never made the headlines.

I recognize the names of entertainers and politicians, of course, but also of athletes who were in great physical shape, men like Ty Cobb, Steve Garvey, Ryne Sandberg, and Wade Boggs. Being rich, being famous, being in shape does not exempt you from getting cancer.

Wade Boggs is an interesting case. In September 2024, he said his cancer tested at Gleason 7, which indicates intermediate risk and was probably Stage 2. This month, five months later, he says he is cancer free. I’m guessing he had surgical removal. While his cancer is gone, he’s probably dealing with urinary and ED aftereffects. I’m glad that he could be diagnosed and treated so quickly. It took me seven months just to move through urology and get to oncology, and almost a year before doctors started to kill my cancer with radiation. Two and a half years after I was diagnosed, I’m still waiting for my doctors to say my cancer is gone. Maybe because my cancer is Stage 3, higher risk, and prone to misbehave, my doctors are cautious about making any pronouncements.

These are some of the famous men who died, with other details I found. You will recognize many of the names: J.G. Ballard died in 2009, Bill Bixby age 59, Stokely Carmichael, Winston Churchill, Eldridge Cleaver, Gary Cooper, Gregory Corso, Vince Flynn, (diagnosed in 2010 with stage 3 and a rare form of metastasis, died 2013, age 47), Dan Fogelberg from Peoria died in 2007 at age 56, Dennis Hopper, Langston Hughes, William Hurt (diagnosed in 2012, died 2022. He said in 2018 that it had metastasized into his bones), Christopher Isherwood, Dexter Scott King, Barry Lopez (nature writer, diagnosed in 2013, died 2020 of metastatic cancer, age 75), Pablo Neruda (died 1973 of advanced prostate cancer), Sidney Poitier, Desmond Tutu, Robert Penn Warren, Jun’ichi Watanabe, Walter Winchell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Frank Zappa (diagnosed in 1990, died 1993, age 52, of metastatic cancer).

These are some of the famous men who survived: Harry Belafonte had surgical removal, Jerry Brown, Warren Buffett caught his early and had radiation, Robert De Niro found his cancer during a routine PSA at age 60, Stephen Fry (who has a Gleason 9 out of 10), Elton John, who discovered it early and had surgery, John Kerry, Phil Lesh, Nelson Mandela who was diagnosed at age 83, had radiation, and lived twelve more years, Ian McKellen, Ryan O’Neal, Arnold Palmer, Mandy Patinkin, Sidney Poitier, Colin Powell, Al Roker, Ben Stiller who discovered it early via the PSA, Joe Torre, and Andrew Lloyd Webber.