WASHINGTON - Republican Fred Thompson, the actor-politician who is considering a bid for president, said Wednesday he has lymphoma, a form of cancer.
In an interview with Fox News, the former Tennessee senator said he is in remission and the diagnosis shouldn't affect his life expectancy.
Thompson, 64, told Fox News Channel's Neil Cavuto that he has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, but hasn't been ill or had any symptoms.
"I am in remission and it is very treatable with drugs if treatment is needed in the future," the Republican said in a statement to Fox.
Lymphoma is an immune-system cancer that strikes more than 71,000 Americans a year. The vast majority have the non-Hodgkin's form of lymphoma, a term that encompasses more than 30 different subtypes of the disease.
Some of these subtypes are termed "indolent," meaning they typically respond well to treatment — patients often go into remission for long periods, but the disease is not cured and may need to be battled back again periodically.
The former senator is an actor who has played many roles, including president of the United States, director of the CIA, an admiral and currently, a tough district attorney on NBC's "Law & Order."
FoxNews broke this story. Not someone like Drudge or the NYSlimes or ABCNNBCpBS
Other news outlets are more and more being forced to acknowledge the pertinency of FoxNews now. I think it this will start to snowball now, and eventually that will be "primacy" - despite sKedwards-Moveon(lol) attempts to derail that eventuality.