- “Saved by the Bell” star Mark-Paul Gosselaar is raising awareness about cancer biomarker testing after seeing people in his life navigate cancer diagnoses.
- Biomarker testing can help doctors better understand a person’s cancer and identify more personalized treatment options, although it doesn’t guarantee a specific outcome.
- Gosselaar also shares how he prioritizes his own health in his 50s, from getting quality sleep and staying active to prioritizing recovery.
Known for his iconic roles on “Saved by the Bell,” “NYPD Blue,” “Franklin & Bash,” and “Found,” Mark-Paul Gosselaar knows how to grab an audience.
Now, he’s using that star power to raise awareness about cancer biomarker testing while sharing how he prioritizes his own health and well-being.
“Health is a huge thing for my wife and I, and our family,” Gosselaar told Healthline. “We are constantly aware of new technologies.”
Having seen people in his life navigate cancer diagnoses, Gosselaar is now raising awareness about the role of biomarker testing in cancer treatment through his partnership with AstraZeneca and its Meet Your Mark campaign.
The campaign aims to educate people facing cancer diagnoses and their loved ones about how biomarker testing may help doctors make more informed, personalized treatment decisions. It also encourages patients to discuss testing with their healthcare teams.
“Biomarkers may tell doctors the specific type of cancer present and if targeted therapies or immunotherapy might help,” Mark Socinski, MD, oncologist and Executive Medical Director of the AdventHealth Cancer Institute, told Healthline.
He explained that biomarkers are typically genes or proteins that doctors measure through blood or tissue tests. They are used to help guide treatment in numerous diseases but are especially powerful tools in many types of cancer.
“They help decode why cancers behave differently, even when two people have the same cancer type,” said Socinski. “However, while biomarker testing provides useful information, it does not guarantee a specific outcome.”
Despite those limitations, Socinski sees promise in the shift from one-size-fits-all cancer treatment to care tailored to each patient’s specific cancer characteristics.
“Biomarker testing does play a critical role here, and it is important for people to be aware of the potential benefits,” Socinski said. “It may help change the course of a person’s treatment journey.”
Gosselaar hopes that greater awareness of biomarker testing can help people facing a cancer diagnosis feel more informed about their treatment options.
“A lot of the time, when a loved one or someone who has been diagnosed with cancer [it can] feel like your world is in a tailspin,” he said. “I wanted to get the word out for anyone who’s going through a cancer diagnosis, or a caretaker, to know that biomarker testing is an option, because even though two cancers are similar, their tumors can act very differently and biomarker testing may help the medical expert with more personalized treatment.”
As part of the campaign, Gosselaar took part in a commercial, something he hadn’t done since before his days on “Saved by the Bell.”
“This was the first time that I actually had to be on set and not be a character; I had to be me talking about this very serious issue,” he said.
While it was a challenging experience, he said it was also fulfilling.
“I enjoyed the process, and to be able to use my platform to be able to spread the word; it means a lot to me,” he said. “I’m very selective of the things that I want to attach myself to, and this seemed like the right fit.”
He particularly enjoyed recreating Zack Morris’s signature “timeout” gesture from “Saved by the Bell,” which allowed his character to freeze time and speak directly to the camera.
“Using something from the past that was such a symbolic gesture to so many people of my generation that are now my age and possibly going through [cancer] or knowing someone who’s going through [cancer to] direct them to [this campaign], means a lot,” he said.
Beyond his efforts to raise awareness about cancer biomarker testing, Gosselaar is equally focused on taking care of his own health.
Getting quality sleep is one of his top priorities. He sleeps on a high-tech mattress that monitors sleep stages, heart rate, heart rate variability, and respiratory rate. He also uses a biometric health and fitness tracker, prioritizes healthy eating, and uses saunas and red light therapy.
“We do everything that we possibly can, but I’m less about longevity and more about just living a healthy lifestyle,” Gosselaar said. “I want to continue doing the things that I’ve done since I was a child…without feeling held back by my health.”
As he embraces his 50s, he said he’d like to live a long life for his children and future grandchildren. He started taking his health seriously in his 40s after undergoing shoulder surgery.
“[It] really made me realize [that] all the damage I had done in my 20s and 30s sort of adds up later in life, and that’s probably something that I would tell the younger me… to preserve a little bit more and take [an] approach that recovery is just as important as the workout because I did not use my recovery very well; it was not a priority for me,” said Gosselaar.
He also makes time for himself every day. He said doing so makes him a better person and more able to care for his wife and four children.
“[It’s] something that I believe in; that I need to do something for myself before I can do something for someone else. Or if I do something for someone else, then I have to equalize that by doing something for me,” he said.
Daily physical activity also helps support his mental well-being.
“I need to do something where I challenge myself, and it could be as simple as a walk. It could be as simple as just getting outside and lifting something heavy [or] taking bags of groceries and taking the long way into your house,” Gosselaar said.
“Like challenging yourself with picking up things, you know, taking backpacks from the car from your kids and seeing if you can carry three in one hand…or going into the gym and spending an hour in the gym, or 30 minutes, or just moving.”
When he’s in the sauna, he works on breathing and clearing his thoughts.
“Some people need to meditate, some people need to talk to somebody. I encourage all of that because I think all of that helps,” he said.
“I’ve done them all. I’ve done the cold plunging, I’ve done all that stuff…some of it works, and some of it doesn’t; it’s whatever you believe in. So I just encourage people to stay healthy and move, get outside, and help other people.”
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