Al Roker Reveals Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

Prayers up for Al Roker. The 66-year-old weatherman revealed today that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. 

The news icon told TODAY viewers this morning (November 6), “It’s a good news-bad news kind of thing. 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.”

He continued, “I don’t want people thinking, ‘Oh, poor Al,’ you know, because I’m gonna be okay.” 

Roker will be undergoing surgery next week at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

Dr. Vincent Laudone, the doctor who will perform the procedure, added, “Fortunately his cancer appears somewhat limited or confined to the prostate, but because it’s more aggressive, we wanted to treat it, and after discussion regarding all of the different options — surgery, radiation, focal therapy — we settled on removing the prostate.” 

RELATED: Al Roker’s Daughter Announces Engagement

Watch Roker’s announcement in the video below:

Black men  are twice as likely to die of prostate cancer than white men. However, cancer can happen to anyone, studies also show there are things you can do to lessen your risk:  maintain a healthy weight, work out regularly, cut back on alcohol, quit smoking and have regular cancer screenings.