Yesterday, it was reported that Beyoncé and Solange's father, Matthew Knowles, would be going on ABC's Good Morning America to discuss his recent battle with breast cancer. With the commencement of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Knowles, 67, wanted to share his story and urge others to get tested for susceptibility to the illness. Only 1% of breast cancer diagnoses are men and black men are more likely to be affected than white men, so Knowles felt a duty to share information that is not often discussed.
Sitting down with Michael Strahan, Knowles detailed how he discovered that he had breast cancer. He repeatedly noticed dots of blood on his shirts and his wife saw similar stains on their bed sheets. After getting a mammogram done, Knowles discovered that he had breast cancer and the BRCA2 gene mutation, which makes him more at risk for developing cancer. "I have four things to be concerned about: prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, melanoma and breast cancer. The rest of my life I have to be very much aware and conscious and do all of the early detection... for the rest of my life," he said.
Knowles also explained the implications that his diagnosis has for his family: "This is genetics. It also means that my kids have a higher chance, a higher risk, even my grandkids have a higher risk. And they handled it like they should. They went and got the test."
