Joy Larsen Haidle, MS, LGC, is a past-president of the National Society of Genetic Counselors and a genetic counselor at the North Memorial Health Cancer Center in Minneapolis.
When Al Roker announced his prostate cancer diagnosis, he shared his desire to use his platform to educate others, presenting an ideal time to continue the conversation. Prostate cancer is common for men--1 in 9 will develop prostate cancer over their lifetime. However, those odds increase to roughly 1 in 7 for African American men. Many prostate cancers are slow growing and lead to a good prognosis, however, some prostate cancers are more aggressive and finding those cancers early becomes important to help those men do well too.