Harrisburg, PA – Governor Tom Wolf will have treatment for prostate cancer tomorrow. “Tomorrow, Governor Tom Wolf will have an outpatient procedure as part of his previously announced prostate cancer treatment. He will be spending Tuesday and Wednesday at his home and return to the office on Thursday,” announced Jeff Sheridan, Governor Wolf’s press secretary, in a release today.
Governor Wolf announced he was diagnosed with a minor form of treatable prostate cancer in February.
Wolf said the cancer was detected after a regular check-up with his physician in “late November, early December.” Following a series of tests, Wolf indicated he learned of the diagnosis two weeks ago.
The early detection allows the cancer to be fully treatable, he said. Treatments will begin at a hospital in York in a few weeks, and will last up to a few months. He said chemotherapy will not be needed.
“This will not impair my abilities to do my duties as governor,” he said at the time.
Prostate cancer affects one in every seven men, according to the American Cancer Society. As Wolf indicated, not many men die from it. The cancer society says the five-year survival rate is nearly 100 percent, and the 15-year survival rate is 94 percent.
Sixty percent of prostate cancer cases are found in men 65 or older, which is why Gov. Wolf stressed the importance of regular visits to the doctor.
“The importance of regular check-ups so you can detect things like this, whoever you are and whatever the problem is, regular medical checkups really do matter,” he said.
