Longtime Blue Jays’ announcer Jerry Howarth is scheduled to undergo a cancer operation next week to remove a small tumour.

Howarth, 70, told Pauline Chan of CTV that he credits a MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan earlier this year for detecting the growth.

Howarth, the Jays’ radio play-by-play announcer, said a biopsy failed to find any prostate cancer, but the growth was later detected by the MRI.

His cancer specialist, Dr. Robert Nam, of Sunnybrook’s Odette Cancer Centre, is currently conducting a study to determine the best method for prostate cancer screening.

Howarth was in the news earlier this fall when he told “The Jeff Blair Show” on Toronto’s Sportsnet 590 The Fan that he has stopped using the term “Indians” a quarter century ago out of respect for indigenous fans.

Howarth said he has also refrained from using the team name “Braves” for the Atlanta term, or jargon like “powwow on the mound.”