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Thompson Says Lymphoma Is in Remission
Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson appeared on Fox News Wednesday morning and revealed that he was diagnosed with cancer more than 2 years ago.
(Fox News Channel)
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Frist, in a posting on his blog, said: "In my view, this disclosure indicates his seriousness as a potential candidate. He's a dedicated public servant with true conservative credentials, extraordinary communications skills and a devotion to his principles."
Thompson's physician, Bruce D. Cheson of Georgetown University Hospital, said the former senator's lymphoma was diagnosed after he noticed a painless lump under the left side of his jaw in October 2004.
The lump turned out to be an enlarged lymph node, which when biopsied contained marginal zone B-cell lymphoma, a relatively rare form that accounts for about 10 percent of all lymphomas diagnosed in the United States.
Thompson initially got only radiation therapy on the site of the original lump. When several other nodes became enlarged a few months later, however, he opted to have treatment with rituximab, an antibody that targets B-cells to be killed by the immune system.
Thompson's lymphoma was slow-growing and he had no symptoms when diagnosed, which are both good prognostic signs, said Cheson, who is the head of hematology at Georgetown.
"His prognosis is excellent. We have patients out for years, leading totally normal lives, doing whatever they want, including running for president."
The longest study evaluating the usefulness of rituximab as sole initial therapy for lymphoma's similar to Thompson's looked at the experience of 46 French patients. Seven years after treatment, four had died. Fifteen percent of the group were still in remission, with no evidence of disease, which is Thompson's current state. The average time until disease recurred was two years.
Thompson's revelation comes just weeks after Elizabeth Edwards -- whose husband, former senator John Edwards of North Carolina, is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination -- learned that her breast cancer had returned and had spread to her bones. Among Republican candidates, McCain has been treated for skin cancer.