Hugo Chavez may have aggressive tumor, cancer experts say

By Juan Forero,
WashPost
Published: February 25

BOGOTA, Colombia — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will undergo cancer surgery in Cuba for the third time in eight months as early as Monday, an indication that he may be facing an aggressive tumor that could spread throughout his body, oncologists and gastroenterologists say.

In a country where Chavez makes all major decisions and pronouncements, details about his illness remain sketchy, with only the maximum leader revealing what he sees fit to disclose. But leading doctors who treat various forms of cancer, including those in the pelvic area where Chavez has been stricken, say the recent discovery of a one-inch formation points to a new, potentially critical stage for the president.

“He is facing a delicate situation, one of great uncertainty and everything points to an aggressive tumor,” said Carlos Castro, a Colombian oncologist and scientific director of the Colombian League Against Cancer. “I wouldn’t be surprised if in a few months we hear about a small lesion elsewhere in his body, in a lung, or in the liver. That’s called metastasis.”

Like Castro, Floriano Marchetti, a University of Miami professor who treats colon and rectal cancer, does not have direct knowledge of Chavez’s health. But Marchetti, too, has followed the president’s pronouncements about his fight with cancer, including the announcement last week that Cuban doctors would operate once more to remove what could be a malignant growth.

(More here.)