Former Utah Sen. Bob Bennett diagnosed with cancer

by Elliot Smilowitz - 02/25/15 10:56 PM ET

Bob Bennett, a Utah Republican who served three terms in the Senate, will begin treatment for pancreatic cancer this week, he said in a statement Wednesday.

{mosads}”The doctors are hopeful that a combination of chemotherapy and radiation can shrink the tumor to a point where it will become operable,” Bennett wrote, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

The 81-year-old’s treatment will start Friday at Johns Hopkins University. Bennett said doctors have offered no “firm prognosis.” He added, ”At the moment, it has spread to no other organs of the body.

“All of us in the family express our deep gratitude for all of the expressions of comfort that we have received,” he said.

Bennett was first elected to the Senate in 1992, replacing retiring Sen. Jake Garn (R-Utah). He was reelected twice but was ousted in the 2010 Republican primary by Tea Party insurgent Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

Bennett now works as a consultant and lobbyist and splits his time between Salt Lake City and Washington, according to the Tribune.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who represented the Beehive State alongside Bennett for the entirety of Bennett’s time in the Senate, said in a statement he was “deeply saddened” by Bennett’s deteriorating health.

“I have always admired that he is a fighter and I will do everything I can to support him in this fight,” Hatch said.

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