Doctors say Nation of Islam's Farrakhan cured of cancer

Farrakhan

April 6, 1999
Web posted at: 2:14 p.m. EST (1914 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Doctors treating Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan have declared their patient free of cancer and say his hospitalization has only to do with side effects from earlier treatment.

Dr. Abdul Alim Muhammad, the group's minister of health and human services, Tuesday told reporters that it has been five years since Farrakhan began treatment for prostate cancer, and that "I would even go out on a limb and say Minister Farrakhan has been cured."

The Nation of Islam held a news conference at Howard University Hospital in Washington, where officials said Farrakhan is expected to be released in the next day or two. The hospital's chief of radiation and oncology, Dr. Alfred Goldson, said "the minister currently has no evidence of disease," based on physical examination and laboratory evaluation.

Muhammad said blood tests on Farrakhan indicate success from radiation therapy which ended in 1997, involving radioactive seeds implanted near the prostate gland.

Muhammad cited test results for Prostate Specific Antigen, a widely-used measure of active prostate cancer tissue. The PSA test "normal range is between one and four," he said. "The minister's value of zero- point-one is even lower than mine."

CNN Medical Correspondent Dr. Steve Salvatore cautioned against declaring Farrakhan "cured" of the disease, however.

"Even if the tumor is localized, there could still be some cells that are resistant to radiation" therapy, Salvatore said. Nonetheless, he added that if follow-up PSA tests continue in a safe range, "he's probably going to be fine."

Officials said Farrakhan now is recovering from prostatitis, an inflammation of the rectal wall often caused by exposure to radiation during his type of therapy. An operative procedure at Howard confirmed the diagnosis, and allowed doctors to take steps to minimize the pain, spasms and some bleeding that accompanied it.

The Nation of Islam's acting head, Leonard Farrakhan Muhammad, said Farrakhan will resume a sabbatical which was planned before the recent health problem came up, and that he will also continue a campaign to urge men to consider early testing for signs of prostate cancer.

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