- The journalist, 30, started suffering from stomach problems about two years ago
- Hylton initially wrote off the symptoms, but then underwent a colonoscopy
- It was revealed that she had a polyp that turned out to be a neuroendocrine tumor
NBC’s Antonia Hylton has revealed that she was diagnosed with a rare cancer at the age of 30 after ignoring her early symptoms for almost two years.
The journalist started feeling sick to her stomach about two years ago, but initially says she found it “easy to just write it off.”
She said Today of her reasoning for ignoring the early signs: “I travel, I’m on planes, and maybe I don’t have the best diet. But I love what I do so it’s worth it and I won’t let these symptoms hold me back.”
Hylton has now been diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor and is now encouraging others to ‘listen’ to their bodies.
NBC’s Antonia Hylton has revealed she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at age 30 after ignoring her early symptoms
Hylton, who works as a correspondent for NBC News, experienced “constant inflammation” in her stomach while on the road but continually ignored it.
But she became more alert to her symptoms after host Craig Melvin spoke about his brother’s death from colon cancer in a segment of the show.
She said, “Some of that really stuck with me.”
The TV personality, who previously received an Emmy for her work on Vice News Tonight, had also noted similarities between her experience and that of a woman on TikTok who was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at age 24.
Her symptoms began to worsen around the same time, revealing, “I woke up (and) my face was swollen. I had trouble going to the toilet for days.
‘I went to a specialist and he sent me for a colonoscopy.’
The screening test results came back three weeks later and revealed she had a polyp that turned out to be a neuroendocrine tumor.
Fortunately, the doctors noticed it early.
Hylton has since been diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor and is now urging others to ‘listen’ to their bodies
Hylton, who has a family history of colon cancer, explained honestly: “I panicked.
“It wasn’t until I saw my doctor in person that I started to feel that sense of relief and also a sense of empowerment of, ‘You took action, you did something.’
The journalist continued: ‘I underwent a series of procedures to remove tissue and screening tests to see if the cancer had spread.
‘The last scan showed that I am completely free.’
Hylton explained that most of her symptoms are now gone, adding that she feels “blessed and relieved.”
She now urges others not to overlook their own early warning signs.
‘At the age of thirty I learned a very important lesson: to listen to myself and put myself first.
‘I love my job. I’ve been working hard here at NBC and I won’t stop.
“But I’ve learned the lesson that I really need to put my health first and not put these things off,” she concluded.
Approximately two million cases of colon cancer are diagnosed in the US each year.
But only one to two percent of these are neuroendocrine tumors.
According to the American Cancer Society, black people have the highest rate of colon cancer in the US.
