13. Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani was very aware of the burden of prostate cancer since his father died from the disease in the 1990s. Therefore, the New York City Mayor made sure to take care of his health and make regular medical visits. In April 2000, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and decided on a multiphase treatment plan including four months of hormone therapy, implantation of radioactive pellets in the prostate to radiate the tumor, and five weeks of almost-daily external-beam radiation with continuing hormone therapy. The mayor decided for an aggressive course of treatment, which was successful and he is now healthy at the age of 71.
”You go through any form of a surgical procedure, you get a little tense and you get a little nervous and once it’s over, you say to yourself, ‘Gee, that was easier than I thought it would be.’,” Giuliani said in a news conference at the time. He also joked saying “the time that I spent this morning between 8 and 9 was not nearly as painful as most of my morning meetings and there was less fighting between all the doctors in the operating room than my deputy mayors, commissioners, assistants and the mayor. So this was actually a much quieter and more peaceful morning than I usually have.”
14. Ryan O’Neal
Cancer treatments were no strangers to the actor Ryan O’Neal when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012. He had suffered from leukemia, which was in remission, when he was told that he had stage 4 prostate cancer. It ended up being corrected to stage T2b prostate cancer, which means that the tumor was confined to the prostate but affected more than half of one side of the gland. O’Neal was treated with targeted cryotherapy and in 2015, he was back working.
“I feel very fortunate that my treatment has turned out so well. This is actually my third go-round with cancer. I had Moh’s treatment to remove skin cancer. All along I have been privileged with skilled doctors using innovative medical technology. If there is anything I can do to help increase awareness, I need to do it,” said the actor in an interview with the Prostate Institute of America. “I was particularly attracted to the cryotherapy option because of the reduced risk of side effects. I haven’t had any residual effects,” he added about his experience with the treatment.
15. Warren Buffett
Business magnate and philanthropist Warren Buffet made public in 2012 that he suffered from stage 1 prostate cancer. At the time at 81-years-old, the announcement was first made to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, a company where he holds the positions of chairman and CEO. The diagnosis was confirmed after a high reading on a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test, which is used to evaluate the amount of PSA enzyme in the blood. Warren Buffet was treated with radiation therapy, but the decision was controversial since many specialists question the need to treat early stage prostate cancer in men older than 75 years.
“The good news is that I’ve been told by my doctors that my condition is not remotely life-threatening or even debilitating in any meaningful way,” he said in the letter addressed to the company’s shareholders. “My doctors and I have decided on a two-month treatment of daily radiation to begin in mid-July. This regimen will restrict my travel during that period, but will not otherwise change my daily routine. I feel great — as if I were in my normal excellent health — and my energy level is 100 percent. I will let shareholders know immediately should my health situation change. Eventually, of course, it will; but I believe that day is a long way off.”
Read more about prostate cancer diagnosis here.
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