Joseph Wayne Singleton went to the doctor to prove a point. He came out with a cancer diagnosis that would change his life.
Singleton, a 45-year-old musician from Opelousas, Louisiana, was 33 when his wife pushed him to get a more thorough physical exam. He already had annual checkups to keep his commercial driver’s license current, but she didn’t think those were enough.
“My mentality was, ‘OK, to make my wife happy, I’m going to do this and prove to her that I’m in perfect shape,'” Singleton told Fox News Digital.
He was too young for standard prostate cancer screening. His doctor ran a prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, blood test anyway.
“He couldn’t explain what made him do that, but he did,” Singleton said.
The results came back with PSA levels described as “through the roof.” A biopsy confirmed prostate cancer. Singleton had no symptoms and no warning signs.
“It was totally unexpected,” he said. “No symptoms.”
Singleton was treated at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, where doctors told him they had never seen prostate cancer in a patient his age. He underwent a prostatectomy to remove the prostate and credits his youth for what he called a “miraculous” recovery.
“A couple of weeks after having the prostatectomy, I was back on airplanes flying across the country doing shows with my band,” he said. “It wasn’t as bad as it possibly could have been.”
“By the grace of God, I’m here now,” Singleton said. “It was quite an eye-opener. It made me question myself … a lot of ‘why me?'”
He now uses his platform as a musician to push for earlier screening.
“This could have turned out so much worse had I not gotten tested early. I hate to think what could have happened.”
“I came to the conclusion that because of the platform that I have, being a musician, that maybe it was meant for me to be an advocate,” he said. “I’m having people reach out to me from all across the country [who are] finding out about my story … and I think it’s very important.”
“If I could help prevent somebody else from going through what I might have gone through, worse than what I went through, that’s the main goal.”
What the guidelines actually say
Singleton wants younger men screened even without symptoms. Current medical guidelines don’t back that up as a blanket rule.
Robert Smith, senior vice president of cancer screening at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, Georgia, said the standard advice is for clinicians to talk through the tradeoffs with patients rather than issue a flat recommendation.
“The one thing most organizations agree on is that clinicians should discuss prostate cancer screening with men, emphasizing benefits, limitations and harms associated with screening, diagnosis and treatment, rather than issue a direct recommendation to undergo screening,” Smith said.
The starting age for screening is still debated — some guidelines say 45, others 50 or 55 for men at average risk. Stopping age generally runs from 69 to 75, or earlier if life expectancy drops below 10 years. Testing frequency recommendations range from yearly to once every two to four years.
Men at higher risk — including Black men and those with a family history of the disease — are advised to start screening earlier, between ages 40 and 45, according to Smith.
Smith said Singleton’s case stood out because he was in his early 30s with no symptoms and no known risk factors. Prostate cancer is rare in men under 40, which is why current guidelines wouldn’t have called for screening him in the first place.
The tradeoffs behind those guidelines are real: overdiagnosis, overtreatment, and side effects like urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. But Smith said the evidence has shifted.
“However, over this period, it has become clear that prostate cancer screening is more effective at reducing prostate cancer deaths than was previously believed, and there are new strategies … to mitigate the harms associated with diagnosing and treating prostate cancer,” he said.
Men with symptoms — changes in urination, blood in urine or semen, or persistent back or hip pain — should see a doctor right away regardless of age or screening guidelines, experts say.
There’s no sure way to prevent prostate cancer since the biggest risk factors — age, race and family history — can’t be changed. But a healthy diet, regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding tobacco and limiting alcohol may lower risk, according to Smith.
“These are behaviors that not only reduce the risk of cancer, but also cardiovascular disease and diabetes,” Smith said. “Regular PSA testing can reduce the risk associated with being diagnosed with an advanced prostate cancer.”
