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Mathew Knowles recently revealed that he was diagnosed with breast cancer and like any concerned parent, he immediately urged his superstar daughters, Beyoncé and Solange, to get genetic testing.
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Knowles battled with breast cancer and underwent chemotherapy after a shocking diagnosis back in July. One of the first things Knowles, 67, said he did was share the news with Beyoncé and Solange Knowles and encouraged them to get BRCA genetic testing.
The BRCA test is designed to detect if a gene exists that is more likely to develop into
According to BRCA Aware, “BRCA stands for BReast CAncer susceptibility gene. Mutations in the BRCA gene are associated with breast, ovarian, prostate, and pancreatic cancer. Women with a BRCA1 mutation have up to a 39% chance of developing ovarian cancer by age 70.”
The test will work to identify if a person had a BRCA mutation, that makes them at a higher risk of developing cancer.
Knowles told PEOPLE he first noticed he was bleeding from his nipple when blood specks appeared on a T-Shirt – a tell-tale sign of breast cancer.
“My initial reaction was maybe I worked out too hard,” he says. “Then I thought, maybe it’s some kind of reaction to my medication.”
But as he kept bleeding over a few days, he said: “That’s when I knew I should go to the doctor,” he said.
From there he got testing and tested positive for the BRCA2 gene mutation.
Knowles said “Beyoncé and Solange have an increased risk” because the BRCA can be inherited.
“They have an exceptional team, and they’ve gone through precautionary measures,” Knowles said.
“They have taken care of that, (the BRCA testing) it’s simple testing,” he says. “And they’re moving on.”
After Knowles received a mammogram, he soon learned he had stage 1A breast cancer.
“I had no pain whatsoever,” he says. “It wasn’t like I had discoloration — nothing. Thankfully I had this dot of blood coming out and thankfully I wore white T-shirts. If I didn’t wear white T-shirts, then I might not have noticed.”
Knowles said after he learned of his diagnosis at his doctor’s office with his wife, Gena Charmaine Avery by his side, he said he called his ex-wife Tina Knowles to tell her.
The diagnosis, Knowles said is something he had never imagined hearing, but admits his family has a history of it. Breast cancer affects some 1 in 800 men.
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After his treatment, Knowles reports that he is cancer-free.
“There’s always a risk it will come back,” he says. “But today I am cancer-free. It just requires me, on a six-month basis, to go to a get an early detection [screening] for my prostate, pancreas, melanoma and breast cancer. If that’s the only price I have to pay — every six months spend a day in my life to be inconvenienced to take exams — then I’m very grateful for that.”
“It’s all about early detection,” he says. “The earlier you detect, the better your outcome will be.”
Knowles who spoke out recently on Good Morning America said he wants to spread the word so men feel comfortable getting tested.
“I wanted to take away the stigma of shame — the stigma that men have to be tough,” he says. “And then I hope I have the opportunity to talk to the heads of the American Cancer Society at some point to voice my feedback, because what I’m hearing is that men actually prefer — regardless if it’s the medically correct term — [to call this] ‘chest cancer.’ That’s the word men often use for that area of our body, our chest. I think if we did that, we would have a lot more men go and get exams.”