Mandela Undergoes Treatment For Prostate Cancer

Jet, August 13, 2001

Former South African president Nelson Mandela recently began treatment for non-life threatening prostate cancer.

The cancer, diagnosed after a biopsy, will be treated over a several-week period at a Johannesburg clinic. Doctors for Mandela stated, "The cancer is not of a high grade and should not decrease Mr. Mandela's life span."

Mandela, 83, will undergo radiation treatment and anti-antigen treatment to help shrink the prostate gland.

Mandela spent 27 years in apartheid prisons before he was released in 1990 to lead South Africa from White minority rule to full democracy in 1994. He served as president from 1994-1999 and was succeeded by Thabo Mbeki.

Since retiring from the presidency in 1999, Mandela has maintained an extremely active schedule.

He was found to have an enlarged prostate in 1985, while still imprisoned in South Africa, and had part of the gland removed.