U.S. Senator Klobuchar says she had breast cancer but has recovered

[September 10, 2021]  By Jason Lange

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a key ally of President Joe Biden, said on Thursday she was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year but after months of treatment her doctors have concluded she has a low risk of the disease re-emerging.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-MN, asks questions during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC, U.S., April 27, 2021. Tasos Katopodis/Pool via REUTERS

Klobuchar, 61, is a leading figure in the Democratic Party and made her own run for the party's 2000 presidential nomination eventually won by Biden. A former prosecutor, she has represented Minnesota in the Senate since 2007.

In a statement, Klobuchar said she underwent a procedure called a lumpectomy on her right breast that involved the removal of the cancer and subsequently completed a course of radiation treatment. She added that "after additional follow-up visits, it was determined in August that the treatment went well."

Even with a favorable diagnosis, Klobuchar's health scare is a reminder of the razor-thin margin Democrats have in the 50-50 Senate, where their majority hinges on Vice President Kamala Harris' tie-breaking vote.

Klobuchar said doctors found signs of cancer at a routine mammogram in February that a biopsy then confirmed to be stage 1A breast cancer. According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, stage 1A involves a tumor two centimeters (eight-tenths of an inch) or smaller that has not spread to the lymph nodes.

Klobuchar said she underwent treatment even as she helped lead the Senate investigation involving whether former President Donald Trump incited insurrection in the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot by his supporters. Trump was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives in January but acquitted in the Senate  in February.

"This has been scary at times, since cancer is the word all of us fear," Klobuchar said. "But at this point my doctors believe that my chances of developing cancer again are no greater than the average person."

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Scott Malone and Will Dunham)

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