Finding the Positive Out of a False Positive
- Actor William Shatner turns 90 years old, and has a lot to be thankful for with a new lease on life after a health scare several years ago.
- The Star Trek star was famously misdiagnosed with a “terminal” prostate cancer in 2016 after getting a false positive following a screening. Three months later, he found out that his testosterone pills affected his PSA levels.
- Experts say that despite occasional false positives, it is still important to continue getting screened. It’s also a valuable reminder to tell your doctor which medications and supplements you may be taking, as they can affect the results of some tests.
A brand-new interactive storytelling app called StoryFile announced that the actor is the first to create an AI-powered videolaunching in May with the company as their brand ambassador. Shatner is also known for being misdiagnosed with prostate cancer, after having a false positive test result in 2016, which wound up being a positive wake up call for the entertainer to live an even fuller life.
Read MoreThere was a mistake. A big one. Shatner had been misdiagnosed just two years earlier in 2016 and had his very fortunate world turned upside down as he mulled over the end of his “eight decades of excitement and discovery and relationships and a lot of luck.”
Well! I must say that the reaction to a 90th birthday 🥳 is overwhelming. 🤨Don't you people have better things to do? 🤷ðŸ¼â€â™‚ï¸ðŸ¤£ Thank you to everyone for your well wishes and love! â¤ï¸
William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) March 22, 2021
The doctor took his PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen), which is a marker for the disease. “Until then it had been at one or two, well within safe limits. ‘It's ten,’ he reported. ‘That is an aggressive cancer.’ Ten! My body had betrayed me,” he wrote.
According to the Canadian (who is also a spokesperson for Priceline), his first reactions to the diagnosis were admittedly common: denial, fear, anger … “as well as a dose of being insulted.”
View this post on Instagram
Then he read that testosterone supplements, which he was taking, can cause PSA levels to elevate, and stopped them immediately after consulting with his doctor. After a retest, his levels dropped to 1 and he was officially deemed free of cancer … that he didn’t have in the first place.
It wound up being a blessing in disguise.
“During those three months I was living with my death sentence, I spent considerable time thinking about my life, about the lessons I've learned, the places I've been, the miracles I've seen, all of those encounters and events and experiences that have been wrapped together into one great burst of energy called life.”
The History Channel host shared his secret that can be applied to healthy people and those living with illness. “Simply keep living and try not to slow down.”
View this post on Instagram
Shatner pointed out that all you hear in life is don’t do this, do that. Don’t eat this, eat that. “One size doesn't fit all.” (His divorce to his fourth wife Elizabeth Shatner was finalized last year, but it is unclear whether his new lease on life led to the couple parting ways.)
Screening For Prostate Cancer
Despite Shatner’s harrowing misdiagnosis, this should not be an excuse to skip getting your prostate checked. Use this as a valuable lesson to make sure you are telling your doctor every medication or supplement you may be taking, like testosterone pills. Plus, a PSA test at a younger age is more accurate because the prostate has not increased in size.
Typically, doctors suggest that men begin getting screened at 55, but earlier if you have a family history of cancer.
“Today's guidelines for prostate cancer call for men to start screening at age 55 and continue until age 70. Prostate cancer, even when aggressive, is typically slow-growing,” Dr. James Brooks from Stanford Medicine tells SurvivorNet. “So the possibility that it could become fatal past the age of 70 is quite low. Still, whether you continue to screen past age 70 is completely up to you and your doctor. In prostate cancer, there are sometimes differing viewpoints and this is one of those times.”
Many doctors say you should have an initial screening well before 50some recommend starting at age 40 or soonerif you are at high-risk (meaning you have a family history or are African-American) “because the risk is about two to three times higher than average.”
The PSA Blood Test and a Rectal Exam are Vital for Prostate Cancer Screening
False Positives Can be Common with Other Cancers
False positives are also sometimes common with breast cancer screening, but just like with prostate cancer, that shouldn’t scare off patients from getting checked. It just means that they will take more tests to be absolutely sure about a diagnosis.
“I certainly have conversations with women who have had a false-positive experience, and that has created a lot of anxiety,” Dr. Connie Lehman, a professor at Harvard Medical School, tells SurvivorNet. “It might have led to biopsies, even for some of our patients, a surgical excision.”
Technology is consistently improving “to find more cancers and to significantly reduce our false-positive rate.”
Reducing Anxiety About False Positives
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
