‘You have cancer’: New Bern native hopes a local lawmaker’s plan will help more men survive ‘the Big C’

Without affordable screenings, prostate cancer often goes undetected in men until it’s too late. A proposed law could provide a solution.

Victor Taylor, a New Bern native, never expected to hear the words “You have cancer.”  

In 2006, he had joined a group of men riding together to a free prostate cancer screening in Craven County. As an advocate for men’s health, he had encouraged others to get tested. On a whim, he decided to get screened himself.  

“I had no kind of cancer in my family at all—no history of no breast cancer, no prostate cancer, no lung cancer, no colon cancer,” Taylor said. “I knew nothing of cancer at all.”  

Out of three van loads of men, Taylor was the only one diagnosed with stage 3 prostate cancer. And when he reached out for a second opinion, the call from the nurse was blunt: “You have prostate cancer.”

As a 42-year-old retired military veteran then, the diagnosis felt like another battle—one he wasn’t prepared for.

“When you hear ‘the Big C,’ the only thing you think of is you’re getting ready to die,” he said.  

With no roadmap, Taylor, who today is recognized as “Mr. Prostate Cancer Man” by many in New Bern, turned to a local prostate cancer support group, and thanks to early detection, surgery, and radiation, lived to talk about it. 

But for many Black men in North Carolina’s rural counties, stories like his end differently.  

Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men in the United States, and its incidence is rising. Since 2014, the rate of new diagnoses has increased by about 3% annually, according to The American Cancer Society.  

This year, the organization estimates there will be 313,780 new cases of prostate cancer nationwide and 35,770 deaths from the disease. 

North Carolina has felt the impact. Across the state, many men go undiagnosed until their cancer has progressed, in part because screenings remain out of reach—either financially, geographically, or simply as a lower priority in communities where health care access is limited.  

But a Democrat in the North Carolina General Assembly wants to change that.  

A bill that ‘will save lives’

House Bill 128, introduced by Rep. Rodney D. Pierce, a Democrat representing Halifax, Northampton, and Warren counties, would create a statewide Prostate Cancer Control Program—similar to the Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program run by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. 

Pierce is proposing allocating $2 million annually from the state budget for the program’s first two years, to provide free or low-cost screenings at county health departments and federally funded health clinics. The program would also help chip away at North Carolinians’ unusually high rate of medical debt. 

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Pierce sees his proposal as a first step in broader health care reform, especially in rural areas with limited access to care.  

“When you think of rural areas, you think of hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol—all because of limited health care and food choices,” he said. “Prostate cancer is just as prevalent, but it hasn’t received the same attention. This bill raises awareness and highlights the lack of health care access in these areas.”  

To qualify for the proposed program, eligible men would have to be 50 to 70 years old (or 40 to 70, depending on family history), uninsured or underinsured, not a beneficiary of Medicare Part B or Medicaid, and earning below 250% of the federal poverty level—in other words, earning less than about $39,000 a year as an individual, or $80,000 for a family of four.

Pierce said the bill was designed with his rural district—which he calls “neglected northeastern North Carolina”—in mind, where prostate cancer remains the second-leading cause of death among men and where rates of new diagnoses outpace the state average.  

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Dr. James A. Smith, III, M.D., DLFAPA, a health educator, advocate, and a psychiatrist, said if passed by North Carolina’s state government, Pierce’s bill would help address challenges men face when seeking medical attention.

“Right now, if you go to a county health department, they won’t treat you as a man, unless you have AIDS, a sexually transmitted disease or tuberculosis,” Smith said. “The health departments will provide primary care for children, women, women with children, but they don’t really do anything for men.”

As a Prostate Health Educational Network ambassador and former president of the NC Minority Prostate Cancer Awareness Action Team, Smith has spent decades performing prostate cancer screenings for thousands of men across rural North Carolina. Smith said this bill is historic for men across the state.

“This bill gives these communities something they’ve never had before. It’s groundbreaking,” he said. “We’ve done screenings in places like Ahoskie, Rocky Mount, and Wilson, but we’ve never been able to pull screenings off in Halifax, Northampton, and Warren counties. So this will save lives.”  

Overcoming fear and stigma  

Even when screenings are available, many men avoid them. Smith pins one of the reasons why on misconceptions about the process.  

“For a lot of men, the thought of a digital rectal exam is enough to keep them away,” he said. “There’s a cultural stigma. It’s uncomfortable. But the good news is we don’t have to rely on that anymore.”  

Smith points to the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test, a less invasive method that can detect potential cancer earlier, increasing the likelihood that men will seek screening. 

He believes wider awareness of this option could dramatically improve screening rates, particularly among Black men, who have a 70% higher risk of developing prostate cancer compared to white men.  

“If men knew they could just do a blood test, we’d see a lot more people getting screened,” Smith said.

He also ties the issue to emotional factors.

“A lot of brothers don’t have family support, so if they do find out they have cancer, they will keep it to themselves, wait to go to urgent care, or the emergency room on their last breath,” Smith said. “What we are more concerned about is that we’ve seen men—Black men—showing up for screening and treatment when they’re on stage 2, 3, and 4 of cancer. If we had seen them in stage 1, it would have been almost 100% curable.”

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Pierce echoed concerns about men avoiding the doctor due to financial reasons.

“Many can’t afford health insurance because they’re struggling to keep up with the high cost of living, pay their bills, take care of their families, and put food on the table,” he said. “But I believe that this will be one of the ways the bill will assist.”

The legislative battle ahead  

Despite bipartisan support, HB 128 remains stalled in the Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House Committee, a procedural stopping point where many bills never reach the floor for debate.  

If passed, the bill would take effect July 1. Without it, doctors like Smith fear the cycle will continue—men will wait too long, be diagnosed too late, and die from a disease that could have been treated.  

“Every man has a prostate,” Smith said. “And every man deserves a chance to fight for his life.”

Taylor’s message to men, especially Black men living in rural areas, was short. He paused, smiled, and pointed at the light blue ribbon and words on his shirt: “You Can-Cer Vive.”

“Because every cancer diagnosed is not a death sentence,” he said. “Early detection saves lives. Having no screenings or not knowing is not an option anymore.” 

Want to help?

To let your House and Senate representatives know how important this bill is to you and your community, you can contact them via email, letter, phone call, or a visit.