TIME TO FIGHT
Does Al Roker have prostate cancer and how old is he?
AL Roker is a longtime meteorologist and TV personality.
The New York native on November 6, 2020.
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Does Al Roker have prostate cancer?
Roker announced on that he has been diagnosed with and that he will undergo surgery.
His prostate will be removed during the procedure.
"It's a good news-bad news kind of thing," Roker said.
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"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."
"We'll just wait and see, and hopefully in about two weeks, I'll be back (on TODAY)," Al said.
Surgeon Dr. Vincent Laudone added: "Fortunately his cancer appears somewhat limited or confined to the prostate, but because it's more aggressive, we wanted to treat it, and after discussion regarding all of the different options - surgery, radiation, focal therapy - we settled on removing the prostate."
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Roker is urging others to be screened, especially African Americans.
"The problem for African Americans is that any number of reasons from genetics to access to health care, and so we want to make it available and let people know they got to get checked," Roker told his audience.
What is a PSA test?
PSA, or prostate specific antigen, is a "protein produced by the prostate and found mostly in semen, with very small amounts released into the bloodstream," according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
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"When there’s a problem with the prostate - such as the development and growth of prostate cancer - more PSA is released," says the PCF.
It is the leading method of screening for prostate cancer.
The PCF recommends black men speak have a discussion with their doctor about prostate cancer when they turn 40.
Screenings should be discussed starting at age 45 for most African Americans, according to the American Cancer Society.
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What are the symptons of prostate cancer?
"Another important message to know is that there are no symptoms with early prostate cancer," Dr Carol Brown of the Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center told The Today Show.
"So screening saves lives, and African American men need to get screened and should get screened usually starting at age 40."
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How old is Roker?
The Queens native was born on August 20, 1954.
Read More on The Sun
Roker is 66 years old.
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