CHICAGO, July 31 (UPI) -- Doctors say Roman Catholic Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, whose cancerous bladder was removed last week, will not need radiation or chemotherapy.
His doctor and surgeon told a news conference at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill., Monday that pathology tests showed the cancer was contained and had not spread to his lymph nodes.
"There is no evidence of any spread outside the bladder," said Dr. Myles Sheehan, George's personal physician.
Doctors said a tumor was within the tissues of the right ureter, which was partially removed along with his bladder, prostate gland and lymph nodes in an extensive five-hour operation on Thursday.
Sheehan said the 69-year-old cardinal was out of bed walking and would be hospitalized at least a week. His surgeon, Dr. Robert Flanigan, said George had a 70 percent to 80 percent likelihood of surviving five years.
"We don't know if the cardinal is cured or if he is definitively cancer-free," said Sheehan. "He is a cancer survivor with no evidence of cancer in his system."
