Musician and pastor Montell Jordan is encouraging people to undergo early screenings after he beat prostate cancer at the beginning of the year. In an interview with TMZ, the This Is How We Do It singer revealed the year did not start on a good note, but he eventually had a prostatectomy surgery some six weeks ago.
The 56-year-old said he managed to pull through because of early detection and vigilant doctors. Jordan also said his faith in God was the driving force behind getting out of the woods.
Jordan told the celebrity and entertainment news outlet that he’s now producing a documentary that is aimed at eradicating the stigmas surrounding health screenings. He also said he has a Christmas project in the works.
The American Cancer Society reports that “other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the United States.” The ACS also states that “about 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. But each man’s risk of prostate cancer can vary, based on his age, race/ethnicity, and other factors.”
It adds: “For example, prostate cancer is more likely to develop in older men. About 6 in 10 prostate cancers are diagnosed in men who are 65 or older, and it is rare in men under 40. The average age of men when they are first diagnosed is about 67.
Prostate cancer risk is also higher in African-American men and in Caribbean men of African ancestry than in men of other races.
The organization also states that prostate cancer is “the second-leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind only lung cancer. About 1 in 44 men will die of prostate cancer.”
“Prostate cancer can be a serious disease, but most men diagnosed with prostate cancer do not die from it. In fact, more than 3.3 million men in the United States who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point are still alive today,” the organization states.
“The prostate cancer death rate declined by about half from 1993 to 2013, most likely due to earlier detection and advances in treatment. In recent years, the death rate has stabilized, likely reflecting the rise in cancers being found at an advanced stage.”
READ ALSO: Erica Ash, and 5 other celebrities we lost too soon to breast cancer
