According to a new TODAY Show exclusive, Montell Jordan shared that his prostate cancer has returned after he had his prostate removed.
“I always imagined I would be telling my prostate cancer story from the other side of prostate cancer because I had a radical prostatectomy surgery. My prostate was removed. There were clear margins,” Jordan, 56, tells TODAY.com. “Close to a year post-prostatectomy, I still need to go back and have additional treatments because it’s (been) detected that there is still cancer.”
Since “This Is How We Do It” was released 30 years ago, Jordan has continued to record and perform music, and has become a pastor.
In early 2024, doctors diagnosed him with Stage 1 prostate cancer after routine prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening revealed his levels were elevated, and he subsequently underwent a prostatectomy as treatment.
Being diagnosed with prostate cancer was “alarming,” yet Jordan felt hopeful that doctors found it early.
“Hearing that it was early on, that it was first stage for me … which is treatable, that was probably the saving grace,” Jordan says.
He felt called to share his story, which he’s doing in a documentary called “Sustain,” premiering next year. He also partnered with the nonprofit ZERO Prostate Cancer to raise awareness of the importance of regular prostate cancer screening for Black men.
“Early detection is the thing that allows me to have a choice to treat (my cancer) and live and to continue giving myself the best quality of life possible,” he says.
“I’ve already had a fantastic quality of life even following my prostate removal, and so I believe that even after this next treatment that I have to do, it will eradicate the cancer from my body and still have a great quality of life moving forward.”
Since Jordan was in his early 40s, his doctor regularly screened his PSA levels.
Black men are 1.7 times more likely to develop prostate cancer and die at more than twice the rate of men of other backgrounds, according to ZERO.
“I would go regularly to my doctor for screenings, and at that time — we’re talking over a decade ago — most prostate screenings were kind of taboo,” he says. “(Doctors) have to go in through the rectum and do the finger check, and so I would do that, and they were taking blood samples.”
Having more than a decade’s worth of PSA tests led to Jordan’s early diagnosis.
“Because I was going and had a history of what my blood levels were like, that’s how they were able to detect it,” he says.
Even though his doctor suspected he had early-stage prostate cancer, getting the official diagnosis was chilling for Jordon.
“I still go numb a little bit,” he says. “I’m the type of person that tries to live a life of moderation in what I eat and what I drink and how I work out. I don’t do alcohol or smoke or any of those things.”
Once he collected himself, Jordan wanted to know what he needed to do. His doctors explained that because they found his prostate cancer at Stage 1, he had options for treatment. Jordan could choose “active observation,” where doctors carefully monitored him, radiation or the complete removal of his prostate.
“For me, because of my age at 55, it seemed like the radical prostatectomy surgery — or the complete removal of the prostate — would be the best solution for me and give me the best opportunity for recovery,” he says. “I would be more resilient in my recovery.”
Prior to surgery, Jordan prepared as best he could by doing physical therapy and following the doctor’s orders. The first five days following the surgery were rough.
“Catheters are removed and you’re now navigating the diapers and things like that because the body is readjusting to not having a body part,” he explains. “I personally have had a really good journey with the aftereffects of not having difficulty with urination or with incontinence.”
After the biopsy results of his prostate returned, doctors upgraded his diagnosis to Stage 2 prostate cancer, a “more aggressive cancer.” But still, the surgery was a success. Just two weeks after it, Jordan felt so good that he was able to perform at a concert in Anaheim with Usher.
Since then, he has undergone regular screening to make sure he was healthy. At his nine-month examination, earlier this summer, doctors noticed “tiny amounts” of cancer in the lymph nodes on his left side and the prostate bed where the organ once rested.
“We thought it was all confined, isolated to the prostate,” Jordan says. “Apparently, that was not the case.”
Jordan will undergo proton radiation therapy (a targeted radiation often used to treat prostate cancer) five days a week for seven weeks.
And he’ll take hormone blockers to stop the production of testosterone, which, in some cases, can cause cancer to grow.
