'The Pitt' actor opens up about 'terrifying' cancer diagnosis, surgery – USA Today

Comedian and “The Pitt” actor Moshe Kasher revealed his terrifying real-life medical drama.
The writer and actor, 47, shared in a June 21 Instagram post that three months ago he’d found “a bump on my tonsil” while filming “The Comeback King” with director Judd Apatow in Savannah, Georgia, and was diagnosed with tonsil cancer caused by HPV (human papillomavirus). The diagnosis was of early-stage cancer, or Stage 1.
On June 19, he underwent a five-hour surgery that “yanked my jaw open,” cut out cancerous areas, “and then slit my throat and dissected my neck.” Kasher was left with “a hardcore neck scar which will make people reluctant to street fight me” as well as a “swollen and bruised mouth,” he wrote.
“This has been the most terrifying and consciousness consuming experience of my life,” the “Subculture Vulture: A Memoir in Six Scenes” author wrote. “My life has been terror, meditation, tears, and medical planning (oh and 12 hour days on set pitching jokes).”
“I’m in pain and I’m in the middle of a very difficult process. It’s gonna be a long summer,” he continued. “But the good news is the cancer I have has an incredibly high cure rate (in the 95% zone). I will find out next week if I need radiation or not but regardless I will be okay and back to being a cool dude ASAP.”
Kasher, who played ASL interpreter Jacob Samuel on Season 2 of “The Pitt,” vowed to “get better.” He added, “I’m so grateful I have a life that’s worth living and a kid to raise this Father’s Day.”
He and his wife, Natasha Leggero, recorded an episode for “The Endless Honeymoon Podcast” before leaving for Kasher’s surgery. In the 43-minute sit-down, Kasher detailed discovering the abnormality in his tonsil and how that led to a biopsy that confirmed his cancer diagnosis.
“I am sick; I don’t feel sick. My body feels great,” he said. “It has been a really reality-altering nightmare. But also very enlightening and [a] profound time of self-reflection and fear, processing and meditation.”
He continued: “I’m going to be OK. The road to OK is going to be long and pretty arduous.”
He also opened up about the diagnosis being his “worst nightmare” because his dad died of “a completely different cancer that’s … less curable than this one,” which he’d “found on his neck.”
Kasher is a stand-up comedian with several specials, including 2018’s “The Honeymoon Stand-up Special” on Netflix. He also appeared for one-episode arcs on “The Good Place,” “Portlandia,” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC notes that “nearly everyone will get HPV at some point in their lives,” with more than 42 million people in the United States infected with HPV. It is spread “through intimate skin-to-skin contact,” including vaginal, anal, or oral sex with someone who has the virus.
HPV infections, which may not cause symptoms for some patients, clear within two years for nine out of 10 patients. But for some, infections last longer and can lead to cancer.
HPV-related cancers in men rising: One patient’s story — and what you need to know.
Usually, it takes years for an HPV infection to develop into cancer of the oropharynx, which includes the back of the throat, the base of the tongue and tonsils, the CDC said. Oropharyngeal cancer may be asymptomatic, or it could cause “a long-lasting sore throat, earaches, hoarseness, swollen lymph nodes, pain when swallowing, and unexplained weight loss.”
The HPV vaccine “protects against the types of HPV that can cause oropharyngeal cancers.” The oldest age someone is eligible to receive the vaccine is 45.
One 2022 article published in the Expert Review of Anticancer Therapy journal predicted oropharyngeal cancer would be among the most common cancers in men by 2045.

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