BRAZIL: Doctors yet to confirm severity of President Fernando Lugo's cancer

Record ID: 785117

  • Title: BRAZIL: Doctors yet to confirm severity of President Fernando Lugo's cancer
  • Date: 13th August 2010
  • Summary: SAO PAULO, BRAZIL (AUGUST 11, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EXTERIORS OF BRAZILIAN HOSPITAL, WHERE PARAGUAY'S PRESIDENT FERNANDO LUGO IS UNDERGOING TESTS TO REVEAL THE BEST TREATMENT FOR HIS LYMPHOMA CANCER BRAZILIAN AND PARAGUAYAN DOCTORS ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE REPORTERS AND CAMERAMEN IN NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LUGO'S PARAGUAYAN DOCTOR, ALFREDO BOCCIA, SAYING: "President Lugo has a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and the tests will be able to reveal its severity or the cytological characteristics in order to -- as we had proposed when we came here -- chose the best treatment for the current situation." VIEW OF DOCTORS SITTING AT CONFERENCE TABLE (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) BRAZILIAN ONCOLOGIST, FREDERICO COSTA, SAYING: "In relation to the defining of the pathological extent of his disease, that is, defining its exact extent, that will be done in the upcoming hours. Therefore, we still have an open diagnosis." VARIOUS OF CAMERAMAN AND PHOTOGRAPHER (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LUGO'S PARAGUAYAN DOCTOR, ALFREDO BOCCIA, SAYING: "With the chemotherapy that we will likely adopt, he probably will not have major limitations to carryout his activities as chief of state." DOCTORS STANDING UP BY THE END OF NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 28th August 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Health,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAD5LVB21F7MIUNFZ8U389MAD9J
  • Story Text: Brazilian doctors said on Wednesday (August 11) that Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo has lymphatic cancer, but need more results to reveal the severity of the illness or the suggested treatment.
    Lugo was diagnosed last week with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer originating in the lymphatic system, and checked into a hospital in Sao Paulo on Tuesday for further tests.
    In a news conference on Wednesday, Lugo's Paraguayan doctor, Alfredo Boccia, said the treatment would depend on test results that would be available by Thursday morning.
    "President Lugo has a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and the tests will be able to reveal its severity or the cytological characteristics in order to -- as we had proposed when we came here -- chose the best treatment for the current situation," he said.
    The doctors said Lugo underwent a spinal biopsy to and other tests which will detail the cancer's extent.
    Brazilian oncologist Frederico Costa said the diagnosis was still incomplete.
    "In relation to the defining of the pathological extent of his disease, that is, defining its exact extent, that will be done in the upcoming hours. Therefore, we still have an open diagnosis," he said.
    Boccia added that Lugo would likely be able to continue working during chemotherapy.
    "With the chemotherapy that we will likely adopt, he probably will not have major limitations to carryout his activities as chief of state," he said.
    A former Roman Catholic bishop, Lugo ended 60 years of single-party rule in Paraguay when he took the helm of the poor, soy-exporting nation two years ago. His termin August 2013.
    Lugo's doctors have said treatment will likely include 18 weeks of chemotherapy.
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