While he was running for president in 2012, Mitt Romney’s personal physician released a letter indicating that Romney was in good health. The report referenced Romney’s family history with prostate cancer as well as a mild, benign enlargement of the prostate. If the 70-year-old former governor of Massachusetts runs for Orrin Hatch’s open Senate seat in the midterm elections, his health could very well become a campaign issue, especially now that it’s been reported that Romney was treated for prostate cancer in the summer of 2017, according to the Salt Lake Tribune and CNN’s Jake Tapper.
In conjunction with the above CNN clip, Tapper tweeted, “Mitt Romney was treated over the summer for prostate cancer. He was treated surgically by Dr. Thomas Ahlering at UC Irvine Hospital in California. His prognosis is good; he was successfully treated.”
Source close to @MittRomney:
“Mitt Romney was treated over the summer for prostate cancer. He was treated surgically by Dr. Thomas Ahlering at UC Irvine Hospital in California. His prognosis is good; he was successfully treated.”
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 8, 2018
Tapper followed up the tweet with a statement provided by an aide.
.@MittRomney aide offers more details:
"Last year, Governor Mitt Romney was diagnosed with slow-growing prostate cancer. The cancer was removed surgically and found not to have spread beyond the prostate"
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 8, 2018
“Last year, Governor Mitt Romney was diagnosed with slow-growing prostate cancer,” the statement said. “The cancer was removed surgically and found not to have spread beyond the prostate.”
There are currently two sitting Senators battling cancer. Arizona’s John McCain was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a common but aggressive form of brain cancer in July, for which he is still undergoing treatment. In addition, Hawaii’s Mazie Hirono was diagnosed with stage IV kidney cancer in May.
(Via Salt Lake Tribune & CNN)