Adrian Wojnarowski: ‘Get your ass into a doctor’s office’ to prevent cancer or detect it early

Talk about a Woj bomb. Former ESPN NBA reporter and columnist Adrian Wojnarowski, 55, announced earlier this month that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in March 2024. Wojnarowski sat down with the Prevent Cancer Foundation to discuss his diagnosis and encourage others to schedule their routine physicals and cancer screenings.

Esta entrevista ha sido editada para mayor extensión y claridad.

Did you have signs or symptoms leading up to your diagnosis?

I had just gone for a routine physical exam early last year, and my physician noticed an elevated PSA (prostate-specific antigen), and he said there could be a couple reasons that weren’t necessarily consistent with a prostate cancer diagnosis. He sent me to the urologist, so I did that after the general physical, but I felt fine. There was nothing that led me to think that I would have a potential prostate problem.

I got an MRI, and nothing showed up, but we did another PSA test, and the score was a little higher. And the urologist said, “You might want to do a biopsy.” I went and did the biopsy, and I waited for the results. I just thought he would call and say, “Yeah, you’re fine,” but he called and told me that I had prostate cancer. And then we set up a meeting for that next day at his office, and my wife and I went in and met with him that next day to understand it more fully after a night of scouring the internet.

What were you diagnosed with and what is your current treatment plan?

I was diagnosed with the Gleason 6, essentially a low-grade form of prostate cancer and we had gotten it early.

I chose the active surveillance path. I’m getting my regular checkups now every three months where I’ll get tested, which might include MRIs, biopsies, PSA tests, and I’m trying to overall eat healthier, exercise, do things that are just good for your body anyway.

Before your diagnosis, what inspired you to stay on top of your routine screenings and other appointments?

Brian Custer, who was a colleague of mine at ESPN, is a SportsCenter host and great college basketball and boxing announcer. Brian had been diagnosed with prostate cancer years ago and has been very public with his battle. He had been diagnosed much further along and needed to get treatment immediately. And I remember years ago, Brian posted on his Instagram for an anniversary, and I went on YouTube and found a Good Morning America piece about him and his battle and why he went public with it. And I remember reaching out to him, like, “Hey, Brian, just know that you going public with your prostate cancer diagnosis made me go get a physical. And so I want you to know you made a difference.”

It was right before I was about to go on TV when the doctor called me with my diagnosis. And so kind of in a daze, I went on TV, did my stuff and then I told my wife when she got home that night. The next morning, I called Brian Custer and said, “Hey, I got diagnosed. I’m going to see my doctor today to talk about this. What should I be asking him and what should I be thinking about?” He was, you know, incredibly helpful to me.

The Prevent Cancer Foundation’s 2024 Early Detection Survey found that 65% of men are behind on at least one routine cancer screening. Why do you think this is the case for men, and where do you think their motivation needs to come from?

I think that men, in my conversations with them, think, “I feel fine. There’s no reason for me to go.”

But I also think there’s an innate fear that, “I haven’t gone in so long, I’m afraid of what I’m going to find.” While that’s not logical, and the guys I know are smarter than that, I have found that there’s this fear and you’ve got to get over that. I was sharing my diagnosis with friends, especially ones in my age group, asking, “Hey, have you gotten your physical? The only reason I’m telling you this is I want to make sure if you have something, that you catch it early like I did.” You’ve got to deal with it, because this is a very treatable disease, but less treatable the longer it goes undiscovered or untreated.

Initially it wasn’t my intent to go public with this, since despite having a very public job, I had always been pretty private about my personal life. I worried initially, if I went public with it while I was at ESPN and I was still working, people would use it against me in the workplace, I thought I would lose a competitive advantage.

But the more I talked with guys, one-on-one, and shared it with friends, I noticed there were enough guys who just hadn’t been to their physical. So, once I announced my retirement and I was out of ESPN, I decided that I would share it more widely, because I felt it could be helpful to get that message out.

The hard part is just walking in the doctor’s office. Set the appointment, get there and allow them to help you. If there is an issue, you’ll be able to deal with it, but not if you wait forever. That’s the frustrating part: This is treatable. Get your ass into a doctor’s office, into a physical and you’re going to live a good, long life.

If you’re at average risk of prostate cancer, discuss the pros and cons of screening with your health care provider beginning at age 50. For more information on prostate cancer and screening options, visit preventcancer.org/prostate.