San Antonio's Cisneros opens up about cancer battle

SAN ANTONIO - Henry Cisneros still talks about housing and urban development with passion, about the future of cities and the ways in which immigrant communities can help the country thrive. He still talks politics and remains involved with President Barack Obama's re-election campaign.

But these days, the former San Antonio mayor and U.S. housing secretary also talks a lot about RADS, or radiation absorbed dosages, in the same energetic, enthusiastic tone, as if explaining a new pension fund in which his company is investing.

It's almost like he's not talking about cancer. His cancer.

Cisneros, who turned 65 last week and just published a book about aging, is fighting prostate cancer, among the most common diseases among men. This year, nearly 242,000 cases will be diagnosed and more than 28,000 men will die, according to the American Cancer Society.

Prostate cancer is tough for men to talk about, especially in public, and perhaps more so for a man who has spent so much of his life in the public eye - for better and worse.

If he's squeamish or uncomfortable, it doesn't show. He laughs about what fellow patients and survivors have told him about their journeys and how everything is or isn't working, post-treatment.

Cisneros said he wanted to talk about his cancer, diagnosed in January, to encourage men to see their doctors and ask for a simple blood test and annual digital rectal exam. Early diagnosis is crucial, he said, allowing men to weigh their options.

But too many men don't seek the preventative exams, he said, especially Latinos and African Americans.

The prostate, a walnut-sized organ wrapped around the urethra, sits in front of the rectum and under the bladder. It's part of the male reproductive system, which Cisneros jokes he doesn't need anymore.

"The cancer doesn't bother me," he said in one of several recent interviews. "I have great faith that the technology will beat it."

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San Antonio's Cisneros opens up about cancer battle