ESPN anchor Jay Harris reveals he has prostate cancer
Veteran ESPN 'SportsCenter' anchor Jay Harris shared that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and will undergo surgery.
Harris, 60, wrote in an essay on ESPN Front Row on Thursdat that he was diagnosed 'over a month ago.'
'It's jarring news for sure, yet unfortunately, it's not unexpected, given my family history and demographic,' Harris wrote. 'Prostate cancer disproportionately affects Black men. My dad had a bout with prostate cancer, which he won.
'I'm 60. It's something I've always been cognizant of, and my doctor and I talk about it every annual visit,' he continued. 'And I'm sharing it all with my 26-year-old son. Maybe I'm oversharing at times — lol — but he needs to know.'
Harris wrote that he will undergo surgery on June 10 and that an initial PET scan 'showed no spreading' of the cancer. He hopes to return to work 'in a month or so' depending on what is found during the surgery.
'My goal in sharing this is to join the many others who also want to normalize this conversation and hopefully provide a bit of guidance and preparation, just as it has been offered to me,' he wrote.
About 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, which is the second-leading cause of death from cancer among American men, according to the American Cancer Society. About 6 in 10 cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed in men who are 65 and older, and Black men are at a higher risk, per the ACS.
The five-year relative survival rate for multiple types of prostate cancer is greater than 99%, according to the ACS.
Harris, who has been a 'SportsCenter' anchor since 2003, wrote that he has been gratified by conversations with his friends and others in which they have been open about cancer.
'Whenever I've mentioned my diagnosis, invariably I've gotten, 'Oh, my cousin did the radiation,' or 'My father had the surgery,' or 'My uncle went through that years ago. Do you want me to ask him to call you?'' Harris wrote.
'If there's been a best part to this, that's been it,' he continued.
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