He recently joined forces with AstraZeneca, a global, science-led, patient-focused pharmaceutical company, for their BeBRCAware campaign.

The mission is to inform the general public about the importance of gene testing, family health history and BCRA mutations. Every human has BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which help repair DNA that’s been harmed. What many aren’t aware of is that changes in this gene can cause certain cancers, particularly breast, ovarian and prostate cancer.

As a survivor of male breast cancer, who is living with the BRCA2 gene mutation, Knowles wants people to know what resources are available to them. He recently spoke with Blavity about his journey with cancer and how others can take proactive measures for themselves.

Nearly five years ago, he learned he was diagnosed with breast cancer after he noticed a few tiny spots of blood that bled through his shirt.

“I called my doctor and asked to get a mammogram. And he was like, ‘I’ve never had a male patient to ask for a mammogram.’ But we did [it] and then it was determined that I had breast cancer,” he told Blavity. 

Shortly after receiving the news, he underwent a mastectomy for the one breast affected. During his surgery, his doctor also ran tests on his genes. Afterward, Knowles learned that he had BCRA2.

“He took the test while in surgery and then called me days later to come to his office, and that’s where I found that I was BRCA2 genetically mutated,” he shared. “And what that means is not that you’re gonna get it [cancer], but in my case, it did. It means you have a stronger possibility of maybe getting it.”

This became a transformative time in his life because he knew he had to enhance his lifestyle to help decrease his chances of breast cancer returning and possibly prostate cancer.

“I’m a research kind of guy, I like to read up on things and talk to my doctor. And we came up with a plan that I need to have a healthy lifestyle. What did that mean? I need to exercise. I was overweight by 30 to 40 pounds [and I’m] still working on that. Those are the things that I needed to do when I found out that I had BRCA2 that was genetically mutated,” he explained. “And one of those things also a major concern for me is my higher risk of prostate cancer, right?”

After doing a study with the University of Washington, it was uncovered that Knowles’ family had a long history of cancer.

“The University of Washington did a whole year of study going to my family on both sides of my family as far back as my great-grandmother, believe it or not,” he said. “To understand the death they read obituaries and whatever information they could get. so I got a full look at my family’s history. My father, my grandfather [and] my father’s side had died of prostate. Four of his five brothers died of prostate. My mother [and] my mother’s sister died of breast cancer, and two of her three daughters died of breast cancer. And we went as far as my grandmother’s sister died of breast cancer.”

He continued, “I had this information in front of me and that’s why I’m happy to partner with AstraZeneca and to talk about education so that we can have the information to make the appropriate choices in our health.”

As a man who had breast cancer, he understands firsthand the uneasiness or shame that can discourage men from speaking being vocal about their experiences or learning their status. This led him to initially call it “male chest cancer” when he began publicly speaking about it.

“Male chest cancer is what I said in the beginning. Fortunately, that made people raise up like, ‘What is that?’ I don’t use those words today. I say male breast cancer,” he said. “There [is] a lot of shame that men have associated with male breast cancer, but when you talk about something, it loses its energy. And that’s why I’m so happy to partner with AstraZeneca and to have a platform, [an] even a larger platform to talk to men really about prostate cancer and male breast cancer and to talk to women as well and to talk about getting the information so you can make informed decisions.”

Because of this, Knowles is happy to work with AstraZeneca on BeBRCAware and BRCA awareness.

“It was looking at strategic partners,” he said. “All of my success in life has not been ‘I;’ it’s been ‘we’ and building relationships with strategic partners, AstraZeneca as a BRCA awareness program, just bringing awareness to men as well as women in those areas for men we talked about is male breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, melanoma, prostate cancer for women, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer. So, it’s to bring that awareness that if you’re BRCA2 positive, you have a greater risk.”

He also has some priceless advice for Black men.

“Early detection is always a better outcome, you know? Cancer has stages and the earlier you find out, the better,” he said. “So that would be my advice to men. Like I just was talking earlier about vulnerability and being vulnerable. My vulnerability lies in my safety and having trust in the medical system today, which is different than it was in 1920.”