The Singing California Dentist Outrunning Cancer One Race at a Time
- A California dentist named Dr. Randall Kam is proving that survivorship can be defined by passion, humor, and the will to keep moving forward.
- The lifelong running enthusiast had completed more than 100 marathons prior to his 2014 diagnosis of advanced prostate cancer, and has continued to keep entering and finishing dozens of races during his ongoing treatment.
- Dr. Kam’s unique brand of optimism, daily exercise, and reliance on the most cutting-edge treatments available have kept him healthy for more than 11 years since being diagnosed with metastatic stage 4 prostate cancer.
- In SurvivorNet’s latest original documentary film “Marathon Man: The Dr. Randall Kam Story”, Kam discusses the keys to his longevity and shares an important message about the disease that affects 1 in 8 men.
- Discover more on “Men Beating The Odds”—an inspiring series that shares the powerful stories of men overcoming prostate cancer and redefining what it means to survive—here.
Kam, a California dentist known for singing classic rock lyrics with patients and cracking jokes mid-appointment, has completed more than 125 marathons in his lifetime.
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Not Your Average Dentist
Patients describe Dr. Kam as the opposite of a buttoned-up clinician. “I’m not the dentist that wears a tie and a coat,” Kam says. “I’m the one that will sing with the patients.”
One longtime family calls him “under energy in the dictionary.” Another patient says simply, “He makes every dental experience an adventure.”
That same energy carried Kam through a devastating diagnosis in October 2014, just one day after finishing the Long Beach Marathon. A routine PSA test he almost skipped came back at 552.2.
Ten days later, it had climbed to 633.
“It was like a little nuclear explosion of cancer,” Kam recalls. “That freaked me out, but I still had resolve.”
Instead of denial, Kam chose to move forward with hope and purpose, saying, “I jumped right to acceptance. I became very proactive in trying to stay around for my kids and stay around for my patients.”
Over the years, that resolve has carried Kam with optimism through dozens of rounds of chemotherapy, all while maintaining his trademark humor.
“I survived 38 chemos,” he says with a grin. “I still got my hair. Take that.”
Running With A Purpose
Kam, who says running is what has kept him grounded through his cancer journey, explains further, “Despite everything, I kept up what I wanted to do, which was get out and do miles.
“That was my happy place.”
WATCH: Randall Kam’s ‘Precious’ Marathon Medals
Against any advice to slow down, Kam kept racing. “In my head I was thinking, you don’t know me,” he laughs.
“I wanted to keep doing my marathons, come hell or high water.”
Eventually, running became more than therapy—it became advocacy. During the 2015 Surf City Marathon, Kam wore a sign on his back that read: Advanced prostate cancer. Chemo starts next week. Guys—get checked.
“Over 26 miles, there are a lot of eyes on that sign,” he says. “I got dozens of high fives and thumbs up, and I knew I was helping.”
A Message For Asian-American Men
The message of awareness carries special urgency for Kam within Asian communities, where he says cultural stigma often discourages men from talking openly about health issues—or getting screened at all.
“In many Asian cultures, we don’t talk about personal health publicly,” Kam explains. “But silence costs lives.”
Kam hopes his openness will help erase that stigma and encourage more Asian and Asian-American men to get PSA tests early, when prostate cancer is most treatable.
Now more than a decade into life with metastatic disease, Kam considers himself a shining example of what determination, passion, and a healthy dose of humor can do in survivorship.
He proudly displays the dozens of medals he has received running races in his office as emblems of what that resolve can bring. Kam says one doctor gave him only a 28 percent chance of surviving five years after his diagnosis.
Now, more than 11 years after his diagnosis, he’s still going strong—and shows no signs of slowing down.
Believing In Cutting Edge Treatment Options
Kam’s latest source of hope for continued health comes from a newer class of treatment called radioligand therapy, which targets cancer with remarkable precision.
In January 2026, Kam began treatment with Pluvicto (Lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan), an FDA-approved radioligand therapy for advanced prostate cancer.
In simple terms, radioligand therapy works like a guided missile. The drug is designed to seek out prostate cancer cells by attaching to a protein commonly found on their surface. Once it locks on, it delivers radiation directly to the cancer, limiting damage to healthy tissue.
Kam successfully lobbied to get the treatment covered by his insurance provider after reading about the success of the new treatment in medical journals.
“You have to be your own advocate,” he says. “Nobody’s going to care about your life more than you.”
Facing The Future One Step and One Race At A Time
Kam embraces being in the spotlight now so he can share his story to inspire other men with advanced prostate cancer to keep pushing forward one step at a time. So he keeps moving: lifting weights, hiking, entering marathons, and mentoring newly diagnosed patients.
“I want to help them get to their finish line,” he says.
Kam, who always smiles when he talks about what’s ahead, continues, “I’ve got miles to do. I’ve got Caminos to walk, beer to drink, fish tacos to eat. There’s a lot on my plate.”
He adds, singing with unmistakable joy, “Ain’t no stopping us now—we’re on the move.”
SurvivorNet’s Prostate Cancer Resources
SurvivorNet offers a multitude of resources for men seeking more information about prostate cancer screening, early detection, and biopsy, including this Patient Guide to Prostate Cancer Testing.
For men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer, whether it be early stage or advanced, the good news is that there are many treatment options available: from surgery and radiation, to newer targeted treatments for patients with advanced prostate cancer called radioligand therapy.
SurvivorNet also encourages men and their families to take advantage of its proprietary AI generated, doctor-backed “My Health Questions” feature, where users can get real-time answers to virtually any question they have about testing, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment, and for those diagnosed, information about current and upcoming clinical trials available, SurvivorNet also offers a helpful, interactive Clinical Trial Finder.
WATCH: Myth-Busting Prostate Cancer Screening Understanding PSA, Digital Exams & Family Risk
Content independently created by SurvivorNet with support from Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp.
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