When Katy resident Tony Masraff opened Masraff’s restaurant with his son Russell, he wasn’t envisioning a delicious meal with a side order of prostate cancer.

But that’s what he got.

It was 1999 when Tony opened Masraff’s restaurant, 1753 Post Oak Blvd., shortly before he was diagnosed.

Tony’s daughter Markley Masraff Berg, left, inspired him to run the Houston Marathon together to raise the funds to start Tony’s foundation.

He began researching his condition, but he said the only thing he found was a lack of information.

“It was very frustrating to see that nobody was doing anything about a cure,” Masraff said. “Doctors were treating the body, but never the disease.”

Masraff did not want surgery, instead opting for what he calls “watchful management.” Masraff has his Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) level tested every three to six months, and undergoes a prostate biopsy every year.

“I haven’t done anything, because in my mind, I don’t have kids to worry about, because they’re grown,” said Masraff, now 73 and a father of three and grandfather of eight. “I was told about surgery. I’m a very active person. I was a very young 62 at the time. I didn’t want to be impotent. I didn’t want to wear diapers. I said I would rather live two fantastic years than 10 crappy years.”

Watchful management is working for Masraff, but he realizes it’s not an option for everybody.

That’s one reason he launched his foundation, “Tony’s Prostate Cancer Research.” Through it, men and their families are invited to contact Masraff for a spirit-boosting chat that essentially gives men their power back.

But Masraff also raises cash for prostate cancer research.

To this date, the foundation has raised and donated $1.6 million to research efforts under way at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology.

In addition to hosting annual Wine Extravaganza events at his restaurant, Masraff has raised funds by getting down and dirty.

In 2003, at the age of 66, Masraff ran the Houston Marathon with his daughter Markley, raising thousands of dollars in the process.

Even though he said he had to literally crawl his way across the finish line, it was worth all the blood, sweat and tears — because researchers at the M.D. Anderson lab honed their development of a newly-discovered protein labeled GLIPR1.

Christopher Logothetis, chairman of the Department of Genitourinary at M.D. Anderson, said that when the GLIPR1 protein is blocked or lost, cancer grows.

When the protein is reintroduced, cancer is suppressed.

It works in mice, Logothetis said, and with FDA approval human clinical trials can get under way in the next year or two.

“Tony immediately saw the value in this,” Logothetis said.

Masraff’s efforts at searching for a cure are what prompted Logothetis and his colleague Dr. Timothy C. Thompson to write letters of recommendation for Masraff’s nomination for a Jefferson Award.

The Jefferson Award was established by Jackie Kennedy Onassis in 1972, and, according to its website, is considered the Nobel Prize of public service.

Masraff was surprised with the award when he was honored recently at his restaurant.

“I’m not usually speechless,” Masraff said. “I really, really was speechless. It was very, very moving, very touching. I don’t look for these things, I don’t really care. It was overwhelming for me.”

Masraff’s son Russell, 40, with whom he owns the restaurant, can’t think of a more deserving guy.

“I’d say he’s my hero,” said Russell, a Memorial resident. “It’s unbelievable what he’s done.”

Russell has a 33 percent greater probability of developing prostate cancer, because his father has it.

“I am more likely to get prostate cancer, and I have two sons,” Russell said. “I have no doubt there will be some kind of cure in my lifetime. My goal is to make sure my kids don’t have to worry about getting prostate cancer.”

That’s exactly what Masraff hopes for.

“Prostate cancer is not the legacy I wanted to leave my sons,” Masraff wrote on his website, www.tpcr.org. “I did what any man would do when the health, security or peace of his family is threatened — I rose up and took action.”

TONY MASRAFF

Age: 73

Community Connection: Katy resident

Fast Fact: Masraff is the founder of Tony’s Prostate Cancer Research

Quick Quote: “Nobody was doing anything about a cure.”

For more information: www.tpcr.org