A 33-year-old musician walked into a doctor's office to prove to his wife he was healthy, and walked out with a prostate cancer diagnosis that may have saved his life.
Joseph Wayne Singleton of Opelousas, Louisiana, had no symptoms. No family history flagged in the reporting. No reason, on paper, to worry. He was a working musician and commercial driver who figured the annual physicals required for his trucking license were good enough. His wife disagreed.
She pushed him to schedule a more thorough exam, one that went beyond the basic commercial driver's license checkup. Singleton went along, mostly to settle the argument. As he told Fox News Digital:
"My mentality was, 'OK, to make my wife happy, I'm going to do this and prove to her that I'm in perfect shape.'"
He did not prove that. During the routine physical, his doctor ordered a PSA blood test, a prostate-specific antigen screening that measures a protein linked to prostate trouble. Singleton was well below the age most guidelines recommend for that test. Even for higher-risk men, screening typically starts between 40 and 45. For average-risk men, many organizations suggest waiting until 50 or even 55.
Singleton was 33. His doctor ran the test anyway, and later could not explain why.
Singleton said the results stunned everyone involved. His PSA levels came back dramatically elevated, "through the roof," in his words. A biopsy followed. Then the diagnosis: prostate cancer, in a man more than a decade younger than the earliest screening guidelines contemplate.
Prostate cancer is uncommon in men under 40, according to Robert Smith, Ph.D., senior vice president of cancer screening at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta. Smith noted that Singleton's case was particularly concerning given his age, the absence of symptoms, and the absence of known risk factors.
Singleton described the moment plainly:
"It was totally unexpected. No symptoms."
He was referred to UT MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, one of the country's leading cancer hospitals. Doctors there, Singleton said, had never seen prostate cancer in someone so young. He underwent a prostatectomy, the surgical removal of the prostate gland.
The recovery surprised him. Within a couple of weeks, Singleton was back on airplanes, flying across the country to perform with his band, The Urban Kreyol Band, where he serves as frontman.
"A couple of weeks after having the prostatectomy, I was back on airplanes flying across the country doing shows with my band. It wasn't as bad as it possibly could have been."
Singleton's case highlights a gap in how prostate cancer screening works in practice. Current guidelines from most medical organizations do not recommend routine PSA testing for men in their early thirties. For higher-risk groups, including Black men and those with a family history of cancer, screening is generally recommended starting between ages 40 and 45. For average-risk men, the window opens later, between 50 and 55. Screening is generally recommended to stop between ages 69 and 75, or when life expectancy drops below ten years.
The frequency varies too. Guidelines range from annual testing to once every two to four years, depending on the organization and the patient's risk profile.
Smith, the American Cancer Society official, noted that most organizations now favor a conversation-based approach over a blanket directive. Rather than telling every man to get screened, doctors are encouraged to discuss the benefits, limitations, and potential harms of screening, diagnosis, and treatment with each patient individually.
"The one thing most organizations agree on is that clinicians should discuss prostate cancer screening with men, emphasizing benefits, limitations and harms associated with screening, diagnosis and treatment, rather than issue a direct recommendation to undergo screening."
But Smith also acknowledged the evidence is shifting. Prostate cancer screening appears more effective at reducing deaths than researchers previously believed, and newer strategies exist to reduce the downsides of diagnosis and treatment.
"However, over this period, it has become clear that prostate cancer screening is more effective at reducing prostate cancer deaths than was previously believed, and there are new strategies... to mitigate the harms associated with diagnosing and treating prostate cancer."
Smith also pointed to lifestyle factors that can lower risk, behaviors that reduce not just cancer risk but also the chances of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. He added that some studies suggest staying sexually active may lower prostate cancer risk, though results remain mixed.
Now 45, Singleton is twelve years removed from a diagnosis that arrived without a single warning sign. He credits his wife's persistence and his doctor's unexplained decision to order that PSA test.
"By the grace of God, I'm here now. It was quite an eye-opener. It made me question myself... a lot of 'why me?'"
He has since turned that question into a mission. Singleton now uses his platform as a touring musician to advocate for earlier prostate cancer screening, particularly among men who assume they are too young to worry.
"I came to the conclusion that because of the platform that I have, being a musician, that maybe it was meant for me to be an advocate. I'm having people reach out to me from all across the country [who are] finding out about my story... and I think it's very important."
People across the country have contacted him after learning his story. His message is direct: do not wait for symptoms, and do not assume guidelines built for average risk apply to you.
"This could have turned out so much worse had I not gotten tested early. I hate to think what could have happened."
Smith reinforced the core takeaway from a clinical perspective: regular PSA testing can reduce the risk of being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, the kind that is far harder to treat and far more likely to be fatal.
Singleton put it in simpler terms:
"If I could help prevent somebody else from going through what I might have gone through, worse than what I went through, that's the main goal."
A wife who refused to take "I'm fine" for an answer and a doctor who followed a hunch he couldn't explain, that is all that stood between Singleton and a diagnosis that might have come far too late. Men who think they are too young to ask for a screening ought to consider what "too late" actually looks like.
