© 2024 WSIU Public Broadcasting
WSIU Public Broadcasting
Member-Supported Public Media from Southern Illinois University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Sen. Claire McCaskill announces she has breast cancer

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill
provided by the office of Sen. Claire McCaskill
U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill

“I very recently learned that I have breast cancer,” Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., announced in a statement on Monday.

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill
Credit provided by the office of Sen. Claire McCaskill
U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill

In a note on her Tumblr page, McCaskill, 62, wrote that her prognosis is good and that she expects a full recovery. The cancer was detected during a routine mammogram, and McCaskill said she will be in St. Louis for three weeks to receive treatment.

During her absence, McCaskill added, her staffers will continue to help Missourians. For any matters that come before the Senate during her absence, she will post how she would have voted, and she will submit questions in writing for missed Senate hearings.

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., tweeted out his support of the state's senior senator. He wished McCaskill and  her family "the very best as she deals with this difficult diagnosis."

About 224,000 women and 2,000 men are diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Follow Durrie on Twitter: @durrieB

Copyright 2016 St. Louis Public Radio

Durrie Bouscaren was a general assignment reporter with Iowa Public Radio from March 2013 through July 2014.
Durrie Bouscaren
Durrie Bouscaren covers healthcare and medical research throughout the St. Louis metro area. She comes most recently from Iowa Public Radio’s newsroom in Des Moines, where she reported on floods, a propane shortage, and small-town defense contractors. Since catching the radio bug in college, Bouscaren has freelanced and interned at NPR member stations WRVO, WAER and KQED. Her work has aired on All Things Considered, KQED’s The California Report, and Harvest Public Media, a regional reporting collaborative.
As a WSIU donor, you don’t simply watch or listen to public media programs, you are a partner. By making a gift, you help WSIU produce, purchase, and broadcast programs you care about and enjoy – every day of the year.