PA Sen. Specter announces he has Hodgkin’s disease

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6982451/

Specter announces he has Hodgkin’s disease

Pennsylvania senator expects to keep working during treatment

The Associated Press
Updated: 6:16 p.m. ET Feb. 16, 2005

WASHINGTON - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., announced Wednesday that he has Hodgkin’s disease but expects to continue to work in the Senate while being treated.

“I have beaten a brain tumor, bypass heart surgery and many tough political opponents, and I’m going to beat this, too,” Specter said in a statement.

Hodgkin’s disease is a type of cancer involving the lymph nodes. Specter will receive chemotherapy every two weeks for up to 32 weeks at the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, a release from his office said.

A biopsy done Monday of a lymph node under his left arm came back positive for Hodgkin’s disease, the release said. Follow-up scans at the Abramson Cancer Center on Wednesday established that Specter has stage IVB Hodgkin’s disease.

Specter, a 75-year-old Pennsylvania moderate who just won re-election to his Senate seat, became Judiciary Committee chairman in January.