Prostate Cancer

Survivor Spotlight: Bruce Horovitz

Bruce Horovitz Releases Justice Pursued

In his distinguished career as a journalist, author and entrepreneur, Bruce Horovitz is skilled in finding, researching and writing stories – asking questions and finding answers. Asking questions and finding answers became an even more important part of his life during his prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment.

He has authored several books, published by University Press of Florida, which each required years of research and interviews to write and complete. The first is a biography Gamble Rogers: A Troubadour’s Life published in 2018 by University Press of Florida and awarded the 2018 Bronze Medal from the Florida Book Awards and the 2019 Charlton Tebeau Award from the Florida Historical Society. It tells the story of the Florida folksinger and storyteller Gamble Rogers: an endearing talent on the local and national stage and a hero in the end who gave his life, while attempting to rescue a stranger in the waters off Flagler Beach, Fla.

The second is Justice Pursued released last month. It is about two men, Nathan Myers and his uncle Clifford Williams both from Jacksonville, who were wrongfully incarcerated for nearly 43 years for a murder they did not commit. The story of their arrest, incarceration and exoneration is told with a journalistic approach, reporting what happened. Bruce said the “twist” in the story is that the men were exonerated with the help of the prosecution through Florida’s first conviction integrity review unit created in the Fourth Judicial Circuit in 2018. The wrongful convictions were overturned in 2019.

Asking questions and finding answers

So, when Bruce was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008, he started investigating his treatment options: Johns Hopkins, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and Mayo Clinic. He was aware of the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute from news reports he had seen in Jacksonville where he lives, so he visited them as well.

What he learned was knowing himself and being his own advocate made it possible to confidently choose proton therapy to treat his prostate cancer. “Being your own advocate, you get a lot of opinions. What I looked for were consistencies of opinions, common things they were saying. I processed all the information I got. At the end of the day, I made my own decision,” Bruce said.

He chose proton therapy

Bruce said he wanted a treatment that would be less invasive and have the least amount of side effects. As he learned about the disease and treatment options, proton therapy seemed to meet his requirements the best. “It was sort of new and I kind of liked that. It made sense to me, targeting the disease,” he said.

On Jan. 8, 2009, Bruce finished his last proton therapy treatment. He remembers because it was the day of the UF vs. Oklahoma national college football championship game. He and his wife and son drove straight from the Institute to Dolphin Stadium in Miami for the game. The Gators won with a score of 24-14. And Bruce has had consistently low and stable PSA numbers ever since, indicating no evidence of prostate cancer.

He advises men to take prostate cancer very seriously. “Be aware. Be tested. Prostate cancer can be a debilitating and deadly disease,” said Bruce. “Pay attention to your health.”