Under the new plan, and if it applied to him, he'd be dead.No treatment, no tests.
Arlen Specter's Hodgkin's disease returns
Sen. Arlen Specter's Hodgkin's disease, which he battled in 2005, has recurred, but doctors said that its return was detected early and that Specter has an "excellent chance" of once again achieving remission, according to a statement issued Tuesday by the senator's office.
Sen. Arlen Specter says he was surprised by test results because he has been "feeling so good."
Specter, 78, will continue to perform his Senate duties and conduct his campaign for re-election to a sixth term but will undergo 12 weeks of chemotherapy, the written statement said. Hodgkin's disease is a cancer of the lymphatic system.
The recurrence was found during a routine scan, which flagged small lymph nodes in Specter's chest and abdomen, the statement said. A follow-up biopsy of one of the chest lymph nodes was positive for recurrence, but a bone marrow biopsy was negative.
"I was surprised by the PET scan findings because I have been feeling so good," Specter said in the statement. "I consider this just another bump in the road to a successful recovery from Hodgkin's, from which I've been symptom-free for three years."
statement said. "Based on the location of the recurrence and the absence of symptoms, his lymphoma is considered stage IIIA. This is significantly less advanced than his Hodgkin's disease when it was originally diagnosed in 2005, when it was stage IVB."