‘The Last Samurai’ Actor Ken Watanabe, 65, Considers Himself ‘Lucky’ & Looks Incredible Years After Battling Stomach Cancer & Leukemia: ‘Everything That I Experience … Helps Me As An Actor’

Watanabe was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a cancer that affects bone marrow, the spongy tissue inside of your bones, at age 29, in 1989, when his career started to flourish.

Following the diagnosis, he took a year off of work to recover from chemotherapy, telling The Guardian in an earlier interview, “I just wanted to recover and live life. I didn’t really think about acting, because my mind was more occupied about what was going to happen to me.

“Things have progressed now, but 30 years ago, the probability of recovering was much slimmer, so it was more serious.”

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Recounting how he had a relapse in 1991, explained, “I knew that people were rooting for me and waiting for me to return. The first time, I didn’t know what was going on, what kind of treatment was available and how successful it was going to be. Everything was new to me.

“But the second time, I had already gone through it, so I was just thinking about having to do everything all over again. That really brought me down; just the thought of it drained me.'”

He was ultimately told he was “cancer-free,” but shortly after he learned he had gotten hepatitis C from a blood transfusion amid his cancer treatment.

Fast-forward 15 years, Watanabe learned he had another disease to fight—stomach cancer.

What You Need to Know About Gastric Cancer

Looking back on his battle with stomach cancer,  which was found at an early stage and successfully surgically removed, Watanabe admits his health issues have made him feel more gratitude toward life.

He told The Guardian, “When I found out, I was more concerned about being able to recover quickly enough to go back to the stage. That’s all I was thinking about.

“I didn’t really think about whether I was going to succeed or fail with the cancer.”

Watanabe continued, “When I have these illnesses, it is really difficult, but I actually think of myself as a lucky person. Everything that I experience, even my illnesses, becomes a part of me that helps me as an actor. So, in that sense, it wasn’t a bad thing.

“It’s who I am. In my 20s, I was a lead in a major Japanese TV series; in my 40s, I was able to do The Last Samurai; and in my 50s I did The King and I, so I consider myself really lucky to have had all these opportunities.”

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Watanabe also has credited his ex-wife, actress Kaho Minami, for pushing him to get checked by a doctor, which led to his stomach cancer diagnosis. He also previously said that his actress daughter suggested a doctor for him to see, according to one of his Twitter (now X) posts in 2016.

“Each little thing in my life, I learned to treat it as more precious,” he told The Guardian.

Understanding Stomach Cancer

Gastric cancer, also known as stomach cancer, originates in the stomach. The most common type, called adenocarcinoma, begins in the stomach’s inner lining. Other types of the disease can begin in the middle or outer parts of the stomach, but these are more rare.

Thanks to advanced endoscopic techniques — which allow doctors to insert a thin, lighted tube with a tiny camera on it through the mouth and view the throat, esophagus, stomach, and more — gastric cancers are now frequently caught earlier, which makes treatment easier.

Initial Workup and Staging Strategy For Gastric Cancer

Surgery is often the most critical part of the treatment process and can be curative for patients whose cancer is caught at an earlier stage.

Even for those with more advanced cancer, surgery may still be an option to help control symptoms and improve quality of life. There are also some new and innovative treatment options for gastric cancer that has progressed.

Surgery is often the most critical part of the treatment process for gastric cancer, especially in cases where the disease is localized and has not spread extensively beyond the stomach.

The goal of surgery is to remove the cancer, along with part or all of the stomach, depending on how much the cancer has spread. Surgeons aim to ensure that no cancer cells are left behind, which gives patients the best chance at long-term survival.

For patients whose cancer is at an earlier stage, surgery can often be curative. Surgery may still be an option even for patients with more advanced cancer.

Systemic therapies, like chemotherapy, targeted therapies, and immunotherapy, may also be used. Eligibility for these treatment approaches will depend on several factors, like the stage of the cancer, the patient’s general health, and the results of biomarkers testing.

Screening In High Risk Populations

From some types of cancer, like breast and prostate, population-wide screening for people with average risk is well-established in the United States, due to the incidence and impact on public health of these diseases. However, with gastric cancer, there is no standard routine screening.

There are several countries, though, such as Japan, Korea, and Chile, where population-based screening for gastric cancer has been implemented due to the high incidence of this disease.

Should Asian and South American People Consider Gastric Cancer Screening? The Role of Screening in Higher Risk Populations

Dr. Sofya Pintova, a gastrointestinal medical oncologist at Mount Sinai Cancer Center in New York City, tells SurvivorNet this is because gastric cancer is significantly more common in certain parts of the world.

“Rates (of gastric cancer) are different globally. So for example, in North America and USA in particular, we have much higher rates of colon cancer, for example, than stomach or gastric cancer, but that is reversed in other populations,” Dr. Pintova explains.

“For example, in Asia such as Japan, Korea, China, they have a much higher rate of stomach and gastric cancer versus colon cancer. So it depends where you are living, whether that risk is higher than the average population.”

Dr. Pintova adds that screening depends on some environmental and genetic factors as well as “high risk features.”

“One such high risk feature is what we call genetic syndrome. So something that you are potentially born with and that affects all the cells in your body, but certain genetic syndromes can increase the risk of gastric or stomach cancer,” she explains.

Current Screening Modalities

By defining your individual risk of gastric cancer with a medical doctor, together you will be able to plan how, when, and what would be the best frequency of the screening exams. The screening is performed with upper endoscopy and/or less common, contrasted radiography.

Upper endoscopy allows for direct visualization of the gastric mucosa and for biopsies to be obtained for diagnosing precancerous lesions such as gastric atrophy, a condition marked by thinning of the inner lining of the stomach wall and the loss of gland cells in the lining that release substances that help with digestion, intestinal metaplasia, a transformation of the cells in the lining of your upper digestive tract, often the stomach or the esophagus (food pipe), or gastric dysplasia which occurs when the cells of the stomach lining (called the mucosa) change and become abnormal, in addition to gastric cancer. Although invasive and more expensive than other diagnostic tests, upper endoscopy is the gold standard for diagnosing and identifying lesions within the stomach.

Unfortunately, to date, there are no blood tests nor non-invasive exams to consider as a feasible screening modality for gastric cancer.

Understanding Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer that affects bone marrow, the spongy tissue inside of your bones. It’s a rare cancer overall, but it is the most common type of leukemia in adults. Rarely, children also get AML.

To understand acute myeloid leukemia (AML), you have to know how bone marrow works, explains Dr. Mikkael Sekeres, director of the Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center Leukemia Program 

This disease is caused by DNA damage to the cells in your bone marrow that give rise to blood cells. Red blood cells carry oxygen to tissues, white blood cells fight infections as part of the immune system, and platelets help stop bleeding. Those cells are damaged in AML, and the damage results in an overproduction of unnecessary white blood cells.

SurvivorNet’s experts say doctors don’t know exactly what causes cells to turn cancerous in AML. It’s likely there is no one cause. However, there are environmental risks that, along with genetic changes, might cause cells to change into leukemia.

A risk factor is something that can increase the likelihood of you developing a disease. Just because you have a risk factor doesn’t mean that you will get the disease, and not having the risk factor doesn’t mean that you will definitely not get it. Some risk factors can be changed (for example, smoking) and others can’t be changed (such as your age or a genetic mutation).

Could you be at risk for AML? Dr. Gail Roboz of Weill Cornell Medicine overviews the factors that could slightly increase your risk for this cancer.

You might be at higher risk for AML if you:

• Are age 65 or older. The risk rises as you age.
• Are male. Men are more likely to get AML than women.
• Have been treated for cancer in the past. If you’ve had certain chemotherapy or radiation treatments, they might increase your risk of getting AML.
• Have had certain exposures. Radiation or chemicals like benzene and formaldehyde might increase your risk.
• Smoke, or smoked in the past. Cigarette smoking has been linked to AML.
• Had another blood disorder. Myelodysplasia or myelofibrosis could put you at greater risk.
• Have certain genetic disorders. Down syndrome and other genetic syndromes affect AML risk.
• Remember that AML is rare overall. So even if you have any of these factors, your likelihood of getting this cancer is very low.

Some preventive measures you can take to reduce your risk of developing AML are:

• Not smoking, or quitting if you already smoke. Smoking is the biggest controllable risk factor for AML.
• Avoiding exposure to cancer-causing chemicals like benzene.
• Chemotherapy and radiation treatment for other cancers could increase your risk of getting AML, but doctors haven’t yet found a way to circumvent this issue.

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

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