Arlen Specter Confirms He Is Battling Cancer Once Again

Former Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter had been hospitalized, and now confirms that he is once again battling cancer.

Specter, 82, has overcome numerous serious illnesses in the past, battling non-Hodgkins lymphoma and a brain tumor in 2005 and 2008. Six weeks ago, Specter was diagnosed with a new form of cancer, though details of his condition have been closely guarded by his family. He had a “big flareup” on Monday,and confirmed Tuesday that he is battling cancer once again.

“I am battling cancer, and it’s another battle I intend to win,” Specter said in a statement obtained by the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I am grateful for the well wishes I have received and I am looking forward to getting back to work, to the comedy stage, the squash court and the ballpark,” says Specter, a noted Phillies fan.

Specter was a US Senator from 1980 until 2011, making him the longest-serving member of the Senate from Pennsylvania. For most of those years, Specter was a GOP member, before switching sides to the Democratic Party in 2009, reasoning that Republicans had moved too far to the right. This move gave Democrats the coveted 60-seat filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. He ran for re-election two years later, losing in the Democratic primary, reports CNN.

Since then, Specter had returned to his law practice and assumed a position at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

“Arlen’s knowledge of the inner workings of the government and lawmaking is second to none,” said Michael Fitts, the law school’s dean. “The insight he brings from his career in public service, particularly as a leader on judicial issues, will be invaluable to our students as they prepare for their own careers in the law.”

Best wishes to Arlen Specter and his family from IQ. We hope that his prediction rings true, and that he recovers from his third round of cancer.