NewsIn memory
Remembering DJ Casper: Understanding Kidney Cancer
Willie Perry Jr., creator of the 'Cha Cha Slide,' died in 2023 after living publicly with kidney and neuroendocrine cancer for seven years.
A plain-language summary based on public reporting and trusted sources, linked below.
Please note: this page is educational only — it is not medical advice, and it does not speculate about anyone’s health beyond reliable public reporting. For questions about your own health, talk with your healthcare team.
In his own words
Willie Perry Jr., known everywhere as DJ Casper, died on Monday, August 7, 2023, at the age of 58. NPR reported his death, which his wife Kim confirmed to ABC7 in Chicago.
He had described his illness himself, in an interview ABC7 quoted: "They diagnosed me in 2016 with two kinds of cancer, which is renal and Neuroendocrine, which is kidney and liver. They went in to try to do surgery, and they found out the kidney was connected to the main artery, so they decided not to do it and just treat it."
He also said this: "Anybody that's going through cancer, know that you have cancer and cancer does not have you."
Those are his words, and this page adds nothing to them. What follows is the medicine behind the two terms he used.
Renal, meaning kidney
Renal cell cancer is the main form of kidney cancer in adults. NCI notes kidney cancer occurs in adults and children, and lists three main types: renal cell cancer, transitional cell cancer, and Wilms tumor, which is a childhood cancer.
NCI also notes that certain inherited conditions raise the risk of kidney cancer, which is why a family history is worth mentioning to a doctor.
Our overview of kidney cancer covers how these types differ.
Neuroendocrine, meaning something else entirely
Neuroendocrine tumors start in hormone-making cells. NCI uses that phrasing for the pancreatic form, which arises in the hormone-making islet cells of the pancreas. Similar cells sit in many organs, and a tumor arising from them is a neuroendocrine tumor wherever it is found. It is a different disease from kidney cancer or liver cancer.
Casper named two organs, kidney and liver, alongside two cancer names. What the relationship between them was is not something the public record settles, and it is not guessed at here.
That distinction matters more than it sounds. NCI explains that when cancer spreads from where it started to another part of the body, it is called metastatic cancer, and it keeps the name of the place it began. A kidney cancer found in the liver is still kidney cancer, and it is treated as kidney cancer. A separate neuroendocrine tumor is a separate disease with its own treatment. Our page on metastatic cancer explains why the original site drives the plan.
Why surgery is sometimes ruled out
Casper described surgeons opening him up, finding the kidney connected to the main artery, and deciding not to operate.
That is a real and common situation. Where a tumor sits relative to major blood vessels can make removing it more dangerous than leaving it and treating it another way. It is a judgment about anatomy, not a statement about how advanced a cancer is.
When surgery is off the table for advanced kidney cancer, treatment shifts to drugs. NCI lists immunotherapy and targeted therapy among the treatments used for renal cell cancer. It also notes that a doctor may suggest biomarker tests to help predict how well someone will respond to either. These are given to control the disease over time rather than to remove it.
When to get checked
There is no routine screening test for kidney cancer, so symptoms carry the whole load. NCI notes there may be no signs at all in the early stages, and that signs and symptoms may appear as the tumor grows.
NCI says to check with a doctor about:
- Blood in the urine.
- A lump in the abdomen.
- A pain in the side that does not go away.
- Loss of appetite.
- Weight loss for no known reason.
- Anemia.
Blood in the urine deserves a call even once, even without pain, and even if it clears up by the next day. Our page on cancer symptoms covers the general rule about symptoms that persist.
Two other things are worth doing. Mention any family history of kidney cancer or an inherited kidney cancer syndrome directly to a doctor. And keep up with the screening that does exist for other cancers, since none of it covers the kidney.
What the numbers say
SEER, the federal cancer surveillance program, carries an American Cancer Society projection of about 80,450 new kidney and renal pelvis cancers and 15,160 deaths in the United States in 2026. Five-year relative survival across all stages was 79.2% for people diagnosed from 2016 through 2022.
By stage, over that same 2016 to 2022 span, SEER records 66% found while still confined to the kidney, at 93.6%. Seventeen percent are found in nearby lymph nodes, at 77.6%. Fifteen percent are found after spread to distant organs, at 20.3%.
Many kidney cancers in the localized group are found by accident, on a scan ordered for something unrelated. That is the closest thing to early detection this cancer currently has.
These figures pool a whole population over several years. They describe a group and not one person, which matters especially here: Casper lived with his diagnoses for seven years.
What this does not mean
Living seven years with advanced cancer is not a benchmark. It is one person's course, shaped by his particular diseases and treatments, and it predicts nothing for anyone else.
Two cancer names in one sentence also do not tell you how the two related, whether one spread to the other, or which one drove his care. That was never made public.
And nothing about his story identifies a cause. There is no exposure, habit, or missed test on the public record that explains why one person develops kidney cancer in their early fifties.
Sources
- NPR: DJ Casper, creator of the "Cha Cha Slide," has died at 58
- ABC7 Chicago: "Cha Cha Slide" creator DJ Casper dies at 58, wife says
- NCI PDQ: Renal Cell Cancer Treatment (Patient Version)
- NCI PDQ: Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors (Islet Cell Tumors) Treatment (Patient Version)
- NCI SEER Cancer Stat Facts: Kidney and Renal Pelvis Cancer
How this article was prepared
An AI-assisted editorial system helped prepare this page. No named medical reviewer has reviewed it unless one is listed.
See an error, old source, or unclear wording? Tell us.
Know someone who needs this?
Plenty of people are looking for something like this and do not know where to start. If this would help a friend or someone you love, send it on — we have written an opening line so you do not have to stare at an empty message. You can change every word of it.
Your message is written and sent in your own email or messaging app — we never see who you send it to, and nothing is added to any list.
Put the story in context
Prevention, possible warning signs, screening, and diagnosis
This story relates to Kidney cancer. The information below is general: it does not reveal anything else about a public person’s health, and not every point applies to every cancer. Personal advice depends on age, symptoms, family history, exposures, and medical history.
Prevention and risk reduction
Not every cancer can be prevented. Avoiding tobacco, protecting skin from ultraviolet radiation, limiting alcohol, staying active, and receiving recommended HPV or hepatitis B vaccination can lower the risk of certain cancers. A risk factor is not a prediction or a cause in one individual.
Symptoms and possible early signs
Possible signs vary and are often caused by conditions other than cancer. Changes worth discussing include a new lump, unexplained bleeding or weight loss, a persistent cough, lasting bowel or bladder changes, a changing skin spot, or symptoms that persist or worsen. Some early cancers cause no symptoms.
Screening and early detection
Screening looks for certain cancers before symptoms begin. Recommended tests exist only for some cancers and depend on age and risk. Screening can have benefits and harms; it is not the same as evaluating a new symptom, and there is no single routine scan or blood test that reliably screens for every cancer.
How cancer is diagnosed
Diagnosis may involve a history and exam, imaging, laboratory tests, and often a biopsy. Pathology can identify the cancer type and may test biomarkers that guide treatment. Symptoms, screening results, tumor markers, or online stories alone cannot confirm cancer.
Learn about this story’s cancer topic
A public story may encourage questions, but it should not be used to estimate your risk or choose testing. Contact a healthcare professional about a persistent or concerning change. Seek urgent care for severe or rapidly worsening symptoms.