Ever since Anthony Bridges found out he had prostate cancer six years ago, he hasn鈥檛 stopped talking about it. He told his Facebook friends immediately.
Now, the 68-year-old man from Georgia spends time working with others to encourage other men to talk to their doctor about getting screened.
Not everyone is as eager to share, for cultural or privacy reasons 鈥 or because they just don鈥檛 want to talk about it. kept his prostate cancer quiet, including from President Joe Biden. And more recently, , waited weeks before publicly disclosing her cancer.
Austin described his diagnosis as a 鈥済ut punch" and his instinct was to keep it private. In a video statement, Kate said it was a 鈥渉uge shock鈥 and that she and her husband, Prince William, had been trying to 鈥渕anage this privately for the sake of our young family.鈥
Their reactions hardly surprised experts. Dr. Otis Brawley says he鈥檚 encountered men who don鈥檛 even want to talk about their prostate cancer with their own doctors.
Brawley, a professor of oncology and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University, recalled a time decades ago when cancer simply wasn't spoken of, called the 鈥滲ig C" instead.
Public conversations around prostate cancer changed, he said, when former announced his diagnosis and publicly spoke of erectile dysfunction, a side effect of treatment.
For breast cancer, it was , who spoke openly about her surgery and treatment.
鈥淭hat opened the floodgates. It was then OK to talk about cancer,鈥 Brawley said.
In the U.S., death rates from cancer have been declining for decades, which is attributed to progress against lung cancer, screening and better treatments. Still, it remains the nation's No. 2 killer, behind heart disease, and cases are increasing as the population ages and grows.
Elaine Smith, who counsels patients at City of Hope Cancer Center Atlanta, said a patient's openness often depends on personality. Some don't want to be identified solely as a cancer patient.
鈥淪o many of my patients say people talk to them with a different tone of voice,鈥 Smith said. "'They lean into me differently, they look at me with their eyes differently.'鈥
Sometimes people worry about how their coworkers will react when they have to miss work for appointments and treatments.
鈥淚n many cases, we may not acknowledge it, but .... that can sometimes have a role in how they are judged in their work performance,鈥 said Dr. Bradley Carthon, of Emory University's Winship Cancer Institute.
Patients usually share with their family, experts said, but even that can be difficult.
Kate noted it had taken time to explain "everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them and to reassure them that I鈥檓 going to be OK.鈥
鈥淪he has the added challenges of having young children,鈥 said Dr. Christina Annunziata, a cancer doctor at the Inova Schar Cancer Institute in Fairfax, Virginia. 鈥淎s hard as it is to explain to friends and family, or even coworkers. It's even harder to explain to young children.鈥
The downside of keeping it private is that 鈥漼ou're dealing with this all alone," Carthon said.
Dr. Paul Monk, who treats cancer patients at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, said it鈥檚 important for patients to bring along a family member or other support to appointments.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think they hear everything I say," he said. "And so when you bring someone else to your doctor鈥檚 visit, that鈥檚 another set of ears and I think that鈥檚 critically important.鈥
Bridges鈥 wife, Phyllis, served in that role for him when he started treatment for advanced prostate cancer in 2018. He said he had no symptoms and had only gone for a checkup at her insistence.
Bridges felt called to share his story with others, especially with Black men, and is now part of a program called Project Elevation. Working through local churches, the program鈥檚 goal is to remove some of the stigma surrounding prostate cancer and provide information about screening.
鈥淲e have to change the mindset,鈥 said the Albany, Georgia, resident. 鈥淲e have to dispel the fear.鈥
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