49ers’ Kittle Joins Effort to Make Prostate Cancer Screening Feel Simple

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle is encouraging men to discuss prostate cancer risk with a health care provider and consider screening, drawing on his grandfather’s diagnosis about a decade ago. After his grandfather died of natural causes last year, Kittle spoke with his father and realized he knew little about the disease or his family’s health history. In partnership with Novartis’s “Relax, It’s a Blood Test” awareness campaign, he is trying to make screening feel straightforward and help reduce stigma around men’s health. Prostate cancer affects about one in eight men, and early detection is associated with a five-year relative survival rate above 99%, according to the sources. Kittle emphasizes that people should consult a doctor about their individual risk and next steps.