Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard Van der Laan resigned his position Tuesday after doctors informed him there was nothing more they could do for his lung cancer.
Van der Laan resigned in an emotional letter to Amsterdam residents.
In the text, he described learning about negative news about his health in January and a recent message from his doctors.
"They cannot treat me any longer," the mayor said.
Van der Laan ended the letter with, "Take Care of our city and of each other."
A longtime smoker, Van der Laan, 62, was treated for prostate cancer in 2013. Three years later, his six-year term as mayor was renewed. Earlier this year, he told a Dutch television interviewer that he hoped his legacy would be "een lieve stad" -- or, a "kind Amsterdam."
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte praised Van der Laan for his openness in dealing with the disease, adding, "I have told him that the Netherlands is with him and his family."
