Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced Monday that he has been diagnosed with Stage 3 B cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer, which he described as “very advanced and very aggressive.”
Hogan, a Republican elected in November to a four-year-term, is expected to undergo six cycles of chemotherapy, each three weeks long, to help rid him of his adult non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“I am going to face this challenge with the same energy and determination that I have relied on to climb every hill and overcome every obstacle that I have faced in my life,” he said in a press conference Monday.
With his family by his side, Hogan said this type of cancer comes with good odds of “not just surviving but beating it altogether.” He joked that his odds of beating the disease are much better than the odds he had been given of defeating Democrat Anthony Brown to become Maryland’s governor in last year’s political contest.
While Hogan described his cancer as aggressive, Dr. Mark Roschewski, staff clinician at the Center for Cancer Research with the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, said being diagnosed in stage three or four is not as bad as it sounds.
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is an aggressive disease, and a cluster of malignant cells can double in size in anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, Roschewski said.
Hogan said when he felt a lump on his neck he went to his doctor. Following multiple medical tests, the cancer also was detected in his abdomen and by his spinal column.
That doesn’t not mean the governor has cancer of the abdomen or spinal column, said Roschewski, who works in NCI’s lymphoid malignancies branch.
During Hogan’s chemotherapy treatments, he most likely will receive between three and five different drugs through a drip system that will go into his veins. He should not feel ill during the procedure, but will be affected the following week, Roschewski said. Whether he can continue working during that time is hard to predict and depends on several factors, including his general health and the molecular profile of individual tumor cells, Roschewski added.
However, Hogan vowed he “won’t stop working to change Maryland for the better.”
Starting chemotherapy quickly is crucial, Roschewski said. Hogan should “drop everything and start treatment in the next few days. The sooner you start, the better” the results, he said.
Because Roschewski is not familiar with Hogan’s exact medical condition, he would not give a prognosis. However, he said, “over 50 percent” of people with this form of cancer go into remission and need only to be monitored to check for recurrence.
“Typically things that grow quickly come back quickly,” Roschewski said.
The disease often occurs in people in their early to mid-60s. Hogan is 59.
Many area politicians took to social media Monday afternoon to express their concern for the governor.
The disease often occurs in people in their early to mid-60s. Hogan is 59.
Many area politicians took to social media Monday afternoon to express their concern for the governor.
“Wishing Governor Larry Hogan well in his fight against non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma,” Maryland Delegate Kirill Reznik (D-Montgomery County) wrote on Facebook. “A very difficult challenge, but one that can be beaten.”
