Matthews’ temporary replacement, Steve Kornacki, revealed on Monday night’s episode of Hardball that “Chris is recovering from prostate cancer surgery last week. The procedure went well, but he’s taking a few days to get back into fighting shape.”
It might take more than a few. Most men take six to eight weeks to recover from “radical prostatectomy” — the removal of the prostate gland, said Alex Kutikov, a urologic oncologist at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Even though surgery is now usually done minimally invasively with a robot system, it is a big operation.
Both surgery and radiation can be curative for men with cancer that is confined to the prostate. The five-year survival rate for men whose cancer has not spread to distant parts of the body is almost 100%, according to the American Cancer Society.
Details of Matthews’ diagnosis have not been released, but at 73, the outspoken commentator is beyond the age that expert guidelines recommend routine prostate cancer screening with the PSA blood test. The American Urological Association, for example, advises against screening men over age 70, “or any man with less than a 10 to 15 year life expectancy.”
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