Exclusive | I got prostate cancer at 47 despite having no symptoms why my doctor sent me for a screening

Terrance Jones was deep into a Saturday morning Bible study on Zoom when the phone rang and his life changed forever.The Chicago-based artist and Northwestern Medicine employee was hit with crushing news: He had prostate cancer at just 47 years old.The real kicker? He had zero symptoms. “It shocked me,” said Jones, who didn’t know at the time that Black men are 70% to 110% more likely to develop prostate cancer than their White peers — and twice as likely to die from the disease.In August 2022, Jones walked into his doctor’s office for a routine wellness check, feeling good aside from a few extra pounds.

He was surprised when she recommended he get screened for prostate cancer. “At the time, I hadn’t heard much about the increased risk for Black men,” Jones said.“I thought prostate cancer was something older men mainly dealt with.”The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends that most men begin talking with their doctors about prostate cancer screenings at age 55.

But studies suggest that Black men should start having those conversations about a decade earlier because of their elevated risk.While the exact reasons for this disparity are still being investigated, research points to a combination of factors — including genetic differences, hormone levels, environmental exposures and lifestyle influences — that may contribute to the increased incidence among Black men.Being proactive about screening is critical, as prostate cancer grows slowly and many men show no symptoms until it’s in advanced stages, Dr.

Adam Murphy, a urologist at Northwestern Medicine, told The Post.“When people come in with symptoms, it’s usually things like blood in the urine or difficulty urinating, which means that you have a large tumor or cancer spread,” he said.“That makes it less curable.”Initially, Jones brushed off his doctor’s suggestion, promising to come back another day for screening.

But she was insistent: If the simple blood test was ...