Ben Stiller Says Cancer Test Saved His Life, Urges Fans to Get Tested

Actor and iconic comedian Ben Stiller wrote a moving personal essay on Medium.com this morning. The open letter details his brief but jarring bout with prostate cancer in 2014, and why he is healthy today.

Stiller advocates for early PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) testing, and explains why it’s a better idea then waiting.

“What I had — and I’m healthy today because of it — was a thoughtful internist who felt like I was around the age to start checking my PSA level, and discussed it with me.

If he had waited, as the American Cancer Society recommends, until I was 50, I would not have known I had a growing tumor until two years after I got treated. If he had followed the US Preventive Services Task Force guidelines, I would have never gotten tested at all, and not have known I had cancer until it was way too late to treat successfully.”

Stiller urges men to get tested early for prostate cancer, even if it’s well before the U.S. Preventative Task Force Services’ guidelines.

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