Knowles had his affected breast removed in July, and he is currently in recovery. He will be having his second breast removed in January to minimize the risk of getting another tumor.
As a carrier of the BRCA2 gene, he also has a higher risk of developing other forms of cancer, and he is being actively tested for them.
He shared: “Now what does having a mutation on BRCA2 mean for a man? You have a higher risk of getting breast cancer, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer or melanoma … I’m still getting test results back. I got an MRI for pancreatic cancer, and my pancreas and liver are fine. My dermatologist removed 2 moles — both of which came back benign for melanoma. I got an MRI on my prostate a week ago, but we’re still waiting on the results.
“I am going to get the second breast removed in January because I want to do anything I can to reduce the risk. We use the words ‘cancer-free,’ but medically there’s no such thing as ‘cancer-free.’ There’s always a risk. My risk of a recurrence of breast cancer is less than 5 percent, and the removal of the other breast reduces it down to about 2 percent.
“My kids have a 50 percent [chance of inheriting the BRCA gene mutation.] That’s male or female. We used to think this was only an issue for women, but this is male or female.”
