John Tesh’s Cancer Journey

Former 'Entertainment Tonight' co-host John Tesh, 73, has been fighting a rare form of prostate cancer for over 10 years. He revealed his diagnosis back in 2015. At the time, his doctors told him that he only had 18 months to live. His father had previously passed from lung cancer at the same age he was at the time, 63.

A decade since then, Tesh has been fighting the cancer successfully. He attributed his recovery so far to The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, saying the team there “helped save my life.” His treatment at MD Anderson began in 2017, and helped him continue his work, even after a terminal diagnosis.

Back in 2015, Tesh, known for writing the 90’s NBA on NBC basketball theme, “Roundball Rock”, was busy touring as a musician, while working on his radio show Intelligence for Your Life with his wife Connie Sellecca. He had just met his second grandchild, and spent time away from home helping his mother-in-law recover from a health issue. With multiple commitments to juggle, he delayed his routine health check-up that year.

While his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) numbers were not much higher than normal, his doctor had noticed a suspicious lump during a physical exam. Following that, Tesh was referred to a urology specialist and he underwent an ultrasound and a biopsy. In the end, he was diagnosed with stage 3 prostate cancer. His doctor also warned him that his tumor might not be eligible for surgical removal. After that, he began his search for an expert confident enough to do the surgery.

In August 2015, Tesh underwent a radical prostatectomy, which ended up a success. However, he struggled with an intestinal blockage afterwards, possibly due to scar tissue forming in his abdomen.

After two years, he thought he had fully recovered from cancer. However, a follow-up MRI showed that the cancer had spread to nearby lymph nodes. He underwent surgery again, and this time his doctors used robotic surgery to remove the suspicious lymph nodes. Following his surgery, he received four rounds of chemotherapy and androgen deprivation therapy.

While undergoing treatment, Tesh faced nausea from chemotherapy, as well as weight loss, muscle loss and fatigue from hormone therapy.

In 2026, in his latest response to People, Tesh shared the following: "I shouldn't even be alive now. I'm really grateful. This is a great place right now — this minute to be grateful." In an interview with Page Six, he shared that he’s “still fighting it”, and that his cancer is “still under treatment, on and off” — although the disease is stable.