By Stone Martindale Mar 23, 2007, 2:31 GMT
Democratic Presidential hopeful John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth revealed today that her cancer has come back.
Presidential candidate John Edwards (L), with his wife Elizabeth by his side, waves to the crowd following a news conference addressing Elizabeth's ongoing battle with cancer in Chapel Hill, North Carolina March 22, 2007. REUTERS/Ellen Ozier
Despite this, Edwards is going ahead with his second bid for the presidency despite the sad news that his wife, Elizabeth, is battling what medical experts consider an incurable reappearance of her cancer.
The presidential candidate revealed this news at a news conference Thursday, his wife by his side in the hotel garden where they held their wedding reception 30 years ago.
Edwards told reporters: "The campaign goes on. The campaign goes on strongly."
The cancer has come back on Elizabeth Edwards' bone - presents a dual setback of personal and political reasons for the couple. But both said the cancer was treatable and that they would stick with their plans to campaign vigorously for the nomination.
"From our perspective, there was no reason to stop," Edwards said. "I don't think we seriously thought about it."
Faced with questions about how his wife's illness will affect his campaigning, Edwards said he will pursue the presidency, but: "Any time, any place I need to be with Elizabeth I will be there - period."
Elizabeth Edwards, 57, was first diagnosed with cancer in the final weeks of the 2004 campaign. Edwards announced that his wife had invasive ductal cancer, the most common type of breast cancer, and would undergo treatment.Elizabeth underwent several months of radiation and chemotherapy for the lump in her breast.
"I don't look sickly, I don't feel sickly. I am as ready as any person can be for that," she said at the news conference.
John Edwards told reporters that a biopsy of her rib had showed that the cancer had returned. The bone is one of the most common places where breast cancer spreads, and once it does so it is not considered curable.
Medical experts say that the longer it takes for cancer to resurface and spread after the initial diagnosed tumor, the better the patient's prognosis. Chemotherapy and radiation are standard treatments, along with use of drugs that specifically target the bones called bisphosphonates. Other treatments include hormone therapy if the cancer is responsive to estrogen.
"I will have what will be a less debilitating kind of chemotherapy ... for the rest of my life," Elizabeth Edwards said.
Dr. Lisa Carey, Elizabeth Edwards' physician, told reporters that initial tests showed some very small suspicious spots elsewhere, but that the therapy would be targeted at the bone. Asked where else, she said "possibly involving the lung."
The Edwards have been married 30 years, and have a grown daughter, Cate, and two younger children, Emma Claire and Jack. Their teenage son, Wade, died in 1996 when high winds swept his Jeep off a North Carolina highway.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a rival for the nomination, said he and his wife offered their prayers, in a telephone call to The Associated Press, added: "If there is one message here, it should be that we should all redouble our efforts to lick that deadly disease."
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, also said Edwards was in her prayers. "I admire her optimism and strength in the face of adversity, and I look forward to seeing them both on the campaign trail," Clinton said in a statement to the AP.
Press Secretary Tony Snow said "our prayers are with you."
"As somebody who has been through this, Elizabeth Edwards is setting a powerful example for a lot of people - and good and positive one," said Snow, who had his colon removed in 2005 and underwent six months of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with colon cancer, reported the AP.
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