Former Brazil president Lula has cancer
October 29th, 2011 - 11:24 pm ICT by IANSRio De Janeiro, Oct 29 (IANS) Brazil’s former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer, his physicians said Saturday.
According to Doctor Paulo Hoff from the Sirio-Libanes Hospital in Sao Paulo, the former president was presenting persistent hoarseness, so doctors carried out several exams, and detected a tumour in his larynx, reported Xinhua.
The hospital said Lula would undergo outpatient chemotherapy treatment starting Monday, while the number of chemotherapy sessions was not disclosed.
The Sirio-Libanes Hospital is one of the most renowned medical institutions in Brazil, in charge of health evaluations of Brazilian presidents.
President Dilma Rousseff and former vice president Jose Alencar, who served under Lula, both underwent cancer treatment in the Sirio-Libanes.
Rousseff was declared cured after a few months of treatment, while Alencar died after a 15-year-old struggle against his disease.
President Lula, who turned 66 this week, is a longtime smoker.
According to Brazil’s National Cancer Institute (INCA), smoking increases tenfold the risk of larynx cancer.
This kind of tumour is also more common among men. The INCA estimates some 9,300 new cases of laryngeal cancer every year in Brazil.
In 2008, 3,594 people died from the disease in Brazil.
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