Colin Egglesfield is a well-known actor as well as a cancer survivor. Over the past two decades, he has beaten cancer not once, not twice, but three times!
Now, Egglesfield is sharing his story as he uses his experiences to help others facing the same difficult diagnosis.
In 2005, Egglesfield was living his dream when he was cast as Josh Madden on the television series “All My Children.”
“I was super excited and felt like I was on top of the world. And then, six months into my three-year contract, I got diagnosed with testicular cancer,” he said.
Egglesfield was 32 years old when he was told he had testicular cancer in advanced stages.
“I didn’t tell anyone at All My Children. I just wanted to keep it a secret. I was worried about what people were going to think,” Egglesfield said.
But he couldn’t hide his condition for long.
“I was not feeling good. My director came up to me and he asked me if I was doing okay. And at that point, I just, I broke down,” he said.
In sharing his diagnosis, he received tremendous support.
“There’s no way we can go through this experience on our own because emotionally, physically, mentally it can be very challenging,” said Egglesfield. “And then, one year later, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer on the other side.”
Testicular cancer affects about one in 250 men, most commonly in their 30s.
According to City of Hope Phoenix Medical Oncologist Dr. Alan Bryce, if both testicles are affected or if chemotherapy has to be used for treatment, patients are at risk of loss of fertility.
“That’s an important part of our conversation,” said Dr. Bryce. “And of course there is a psychological impact of having cancer in this part of the body.”
As a leading man, Egglesfield had to overcome his fears of what others might think and replace it with what he thinks.
“Now that I don’t have testicles, does that mean that I’m any less of a man? And so, I talk about who you are as your self-identity. It doesn’t depend on physically what you have or what you’re able to do. It’s all about how you show up and who you are to other people,” he said.
Egglesfield wrote a book about what it takes to overcome cancer. He had to draw from these lessons again when he faced his third cancer diagnosis — this time prostate cancer.
In January, he underwent surgery and the challenges of recovery.
“You’re training your pelvic floor how to control going to the bathroom again. And so it’s a lot of stuff that I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone really talk about,” he said.
Throughout all this, he has partnered with City of Hope, educating and supporting other patients as they go through their own journeys.
“He decided to lean into the diagnosis to say he’s going to use the challenges that he’s had to go through as a platform for being an advocate for others,” Dr. Bryce said.
Egglesfield said what’s important to him is truly caring about being of service to others and showing up with an open heart.
“I wouldn’t wish cancer on anyone,” said Egglesfield. “But it really has made me do some introspective work to dig deep and find out what I want my life to be about.”
© 2025 Television,
