San Antonio congressman Joaquin Castro undergoes surgery to have tumors removed
Michael Karlis
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro first learned that he might have cancer during a official trip to Spain last year, according to the report published in the Express-News .
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro underwent surgery Monday morning at M.D.Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to remove tumors in his small intestine, according to a statement from the San Antonio Democrat’s office.
The surgery removed gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors, which doctors discovered last summer, Castro said in the statement. He described the tumors as “small, slow-growing, and mostly asymptomatic.”
“My prognosis is good,” Castro wrote on Twitter. “I expect to be home recovering in Texas for several weeks before returning to Washington to continue my work on behalf of the people of my hometown, San Antonio.”
Castro learned he might have cancer during an official trip to Spain, last July, according to the Express-News. After the car carrying the congressman struck a wild boar, he want to the hospital. Reportedly, Spanish doctors noticed “something disconcerting” on Castro’s MRI and encouraged him to get it checked upon his return to the U.S.
Although cancer spread from his small intestine to the liver, the Democratic congressman’s post-surgery treatment won’t include chemotherapy or radiation, the Express-News also reports. Instead, Castro will receive monthly Lanreotide shots to shrink the remaining tumors.
The five-year survival rate for people with cancer in their gastrointestinal tract, in which cancer has not yet spread to other parts of the body, is 97%, according to cancer.net.
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