Waging War on Prostate Cancer

After two decades of declines, prostate cancer rates are rising, especially in late stages. What were your thoughts when you heard about that?

Every single person should be asking their doctor about cancer screenings. Had I not asked for the PSA test, you would not be speaking to me today. It’s an issue of health literacy, of education. With proper screening and proper treatment, you can substantially reduce the death rate.

Since the 1970s, you’ve donated $1 billion to medical research. And your foundations — including the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Melanoma Research Alliance — have raised at least that much. What motivated you to write Faster Cures now? 

What we learned from COVID was that just because you have scientific breakthroughs, people don’t necessarily take them or accept them. There is a gap. We cannot just introduce new products without better medical and health literacy. That’s one of the prime reasons why I wrote this book.

In the book, you talk about a report projecting zero prostate cancer deaths by 2051 if research funding is high enough. Can you elaborate?

We’re following two broad approaches: First, develop better screening tests that help diagnose disease early — before it spreads — and urge every man to get tested. Second, we’re doubling down on research investments to target the specific ways some cancers evade current treatments and lead to death. This is especially important for patients who aren’t screened and then develop advanced disease.

How will developments you’re funding in prostate cancer and melanoma improve survival in other cancers?

Many cancer types share the same molecular driver. Yet there’s a tendency to cling to the 19th-century classification by organ — breast cancer, prostate cancer, etc. Some prostate cancers may be molecularly closer to lung cancer, for example, than to other prostate cancers. In fact, more than 70 types of cancer share prostate cancer’s molecular profile. We’re researching how to interfere with the “master control” of tumor metabolism across cancer types.

What do the top scientists tell you will be the major victories in cancer detection and treatment in the next decade?

Several areas have great promise. One is to attack cancer cells that researchers used to call “undruggable targets.” New drug types destroy those target cells by attaching payloads like radioactive atoms, or toxins, or engineered killer T cells. Meanwhile, the revolutionary advances of immunology over the past 25 years — especially against fast-growing cancers like melanoma — are expected to continue and expand to other diseases, saving and extending many more lives.

A former director of the National Cancer Institute, Andrew von Eschenbach, has said you changed the culture of medical research. How?

When you want to solve difficult problems, you need the best people working in this field. It isn’t just retaining them, it’s recruiting the best and brightest. The highest rate of return we’ve gotten through our philanthropy over the last more than 40 years has been identifying young researchers in their 30s. By funding them, we were able to get many more people focused on cancer over the years. That’s one of the reasons we’ve had such breakthroughs in cancer.

At 76, you work more than full-time. What motivates you?

I think it was my father’s melanoma diagnosis and death in the early ’70s that made me realize that life is fleeting. My father’s mother died in childbirth. His father died in an auto accident when he was 11. Because of medical advancements, I have the luxury of spending time with grandchildren who hopefully will all see the 22nd century.

Prostate Cancer Primer

One in 8 men will develop prostate cancer. This year, it will kill 34,700. And prostate cancer rates are rising in the U.S. — especially for advanced cancers with lower survival odds. What you need to know:

• Talk to your doctor about prostate cancer screening. The American Cancer Society recommends screening at age 50 for men at average risk, at 45 if you’re African American or your father or brother had prostate cancer before age 65.
• You need a PSA test. This blood check measures prostate-specific antigen, a protein produced by your prostate. High numbers warn of cancer.
• You don’t necessarily need a digital rectal exam. Once a mainstay of prostate cancer testing, the infamous gloved-finger feel of your prostate’s size and shape isn’t necessary for a first-line prostate cancer screening because a PSA is more sensitive, according to the American Urological Association.