Reporter shares prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment at AdventHealth Celebration, pushes for screening for younger patients

Erik Sandoval is a longtime and well-known investigative reporter at WKMG in Orlando. On January 30, 2024, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

“I was one of those new cases in 2024. And it rocked my world,” Sandoval said.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men, with nearly 300,000 new cases in 2024. According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 3.4 million men in the United States are living with the disease, and many don’t know they have it.

Erik opted for prostate removal surgery under the care of Dr. Vipul Patel at AdventHealth Celebration’s Global Robotics Institute. Dr. Patel has performed more than 18,000 prostate removal surgeries and is known worldwide as a pioneer in prostate cancer treatment.

Over the last 10 years, Dr. Patel said the age of his average patient has gotten younger, but screening guidelines haven’t changed. Currently, no testing is recommended for men over 70 or under the age of 55.

“If we can catch prostate cancer early enough, we know the cure rates are very high. We need to have better options for screening and for management,” Patel said.

You can watch Erik’s story and the questions he has for the federal task force in charge of prostate cancer screening guidelines by clicking on the video above.