facebook-pixel

Aide: Mitt Romney was ‘successfully treated’ for prostate cancer last year

In this photo taken Nov. 19, 2016, Mitt Romney talks to media after meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in Bedminster, N.J. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he has reached out to former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney about possibly running for the Senate, if a vacancy opens in Utah.(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Washington • Mitt Romney, who is considering a Senate run from Utah, underwent surgery for prostate cancer last year, an aide confirmed Monday.

Romney, 70, was “successfully treated,” according to a Romney aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Romney’s health.

“Mitt Romney was treated over the summer for prostate cancer,” the aide said. “He was treated surgically by Dr. Thomas Ahlering at UC Irvine Hospital in California. His prognosis is good; he was successfully treated.”

Romney’s diagnosis was first reported by CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Prostate cancer affects one in seven men, according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and many men, possibly a majority, of those over 70 have some form of it. It tends to advance slowly, and if treated early, the prognosis to become and remain cancer-free is very high.