Maryland Governor Hogan announced today he has an advanced and aggressive Stage III Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
Hogan, 59, was sworn into office in January after winning an upset victory over then-Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D).
He said he would soon begin aggressive chemotherapy treatments, and would rely on Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford (R) to fill in for him on state business as needed.
He described the cancer as a lymphoma, and said it had spread through his abdomen and was “pressing up against my spinal column.” link
This is a serious diagnosis, and having spent some time with the illness (spouse with Stage III Mixed B Cell Lymphoma diagnosis of an aggressive type and myself with Hodgkins Lymphoma at Stage II) I can say the governor will be in for a long haul with Chemotherapy. If he is fortunate, his cancer will respond to some of the new biological medications like rituximab and ibritumomab. These medications are very effective but very expensive, and you need to have a certain cell receptor on the tumor for them to work. Spouse is now considered cured, and he was in the early rituximab treatments groups, which improved survival rate by 50%.
I hope for the best for Governor Hogan and his family. He is about to enter a new world where the costs of the best treatments are shocking, even with good health insurance.