A Life-Changing Phone Call: Movie Producer Pascal Borno Talks Kidney Cancer, Creativity, and the Power of Early Detection

This article is from our Summer 2026 issue. Read the full issue here.

In November 2019, veteran film producer and international sales agent Pascal Borno received a phone call that would forever change the way he viewed his life, health, and career.

What began as a routine MRI—ordered simply because he had met his insurance deductible—revealed something entirely unexpected: a tumor on his right kidney. Pascal felt healthy. He had no symptoms. No warning signs. Yet in a matter of moments, everything shifted.

“I was just going about my life, minding my own business,” Pascal recalls. “And then one phone call made me realize that it could all be over in an instant. That shakes you to your core.”

An Unexpected Diagnosis

The MRI, initially intended to double-check intestinal health, captured Pascal’s entire chest cavity. That broader scan detected a tumor on his kidney—something no one had been looking for. Within days, he was referred to a urologist at Cedars-Sinai, who confirmed what Pascal feared most: there was a 95–99% chance the tumor was kidney cancer.

Like many patients, Pascal’s first thought was devastating.

“You immediately think, this is it. Life is over,” he says. “Even if you know logically that it may not be a death sentence, that fear hits instantly.”

Surgery was scheduled for December 22, 2019. The tumor was removed, along with approximately 10% of his right kidney. The diagnosis was confirmed malignant—but caught early enough that the cancer had not spread.

“I was unbelievably lucky,” Pascal says. “The tissue around the tumor was still healthy. If we hadn’t found it when we did, the outcome could have been very different.”

The Importance of Early Detection

Pascal credits his survival to one simple fact: the cancer was discovered early—by chance.

“I avoided a major bullet, and the only reason is because we caught it early,” he explains. “That’s why preventative testing is so important. Even if you feel great. Especially if you feel great.”

He emphasizes that kidney cancer often shows no symptoms until it has progressed significantly. In many cases, fatigue or pain only appears once the tumor has grown or metastasized.

“I have a friend who lost an entire kidney because his tumor had grown to the size of the kidney itself,” Pascal shares. “That didn’t happen overnight. It took years. And it could have been avoided with earlier screening.”

Today, Pascal urges people—particularly those over 50—to prioritize regular checkups and imaging when possible.

“By the time you have symptoms, it’s often much more serious,” he says. “A simple scan can save your life.”

Recovery, Resilience, and a New Perspective

Although Pascal anticipated a relatively quick recovery, complications from scar tissue related to a prior surgery made the operation more extensive than expected. His recovery stretched from weeks into months.

How Health Changed His Creative Outlook

With over four decades in the entertainment industry, Pascal says his health journey has profoundly shaped the kind of projects he now wants to pursue.

“I don’t want to make mindless entertainment anymore,” he explains. “I want to be part of films that make people feel something—laugh, cry, reflect. Life is too precious not to create work with meaning.”

Facing mortality gave him clarity—not just about health, but about purpose.

“When you realize life can change in seconds, every moment matters,” he says. “Every breath matters.”

Why Speaking Out Matters

Pascal believes creatives and public figures have a responsibility to speak openly about kidney disease and early detection.

“People listen when stories are personal,” he says. “If sharing what I went through gets even one person to schedule a checkup, then it’s worth it.”

Today, Pascal wakes up each morning with gratitude.

“I think about it all the time—how close I came, and how lucky I was,” he says. “That awareness never leaves you. And honestly, I wouldn’t want it to.”