Al Roker Says He’ll Have Surgery After Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

Ted Johnson
·2 min read
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UPDATED with reactions: Al Roker of NBC’s Today said that he will have surgery next week after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

“It’s a good news-bad news kind of thing,” Roker said on Today on Friday. “Good news is we caught it early. Not great news is that it’s a little aggressive, so I’m going to be taking some time off to take care of this.”

Watch him make the announcement and talk about his diagnosis above.

Roker said that the surgery will be to have his prostate removed. He said that he went public with his diagnosis to raise awareness of the risk for men and the need for them to be checked.

The doctor who will perform the surgery, Vincent Laudone, said on the show that “fortunately his cancer appears somewhat limited or confined to the prostate, but because it’s more aggressive, we wanted to treat it.” He said that they discussed all the different options and “we settled on removing the prostate.”

The risk for prostate cancer is greater among African American men, Roker said, for “any number of reasons from genetics to access to health care.”

Roker, 66, became the regular weatherman on weekday Today in 1996, succeeding Willard Scott. He filled in for Scott before then. He also is the co-host of 3rd Hour Today.

Roker is receiving well-wishes from friends and current and former colleagues, including former Today co-host Katie Couric, who advocated early cancer screenings on the show after her husband died of colon cancer. That and other messages of support follow below.

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