Hastings battling pancreatic cancer

U.S. congressman will continue to serve as he receives treatment

U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings announced on Monday he is battling pancreatic cancer.

Hastings, 82, D-West Delray, said he will continue to serve as he receives treatment at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“I have been convinced that this is a battle worth fighting, and my life is defined by fighting battles worth fighting,” Hastings said. “Should it become clear that this cancer which has invaded my body cannot be defeated, I will tell you so.”

The statement issued by Hastings' office on Monday did not detail the type of treatment he is undergoing, nor the stage of the disease in his diagnosis.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest types of cancer — with a five-year survival rate of 9 percent, according to the American Cancer Society. An estimated 45,750 deaths will occur in 2019.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85, underwent surgery for a form of pancreatic cancer about a decade ago, and a surgeon removed a small tumor. Doctors caught the disease at a very early stage, increasing her chances at survival.

Pancreatic cancer is difficult to treat because it often evades early detection, but progress has been made in combating the disease, said Dr. Nipun Merchant, medical director at the Sylvester Pancreat-

ic Cancer Research Institute at the University of Miami.

“This diagnosis doesn’t necessarily carry with it a death sentence,” he said. “There are many more options available that we didn’t have a few years ago.”

New chemotherapy regimens have been developed, along with therapies that target specific mutations, Merchant said.

Other members of Congress have had high-profile battles with cancer. U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona — who was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in 2017 — died in August at the age of 81. U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, is a breast cancer survivor.

Hastings’ South Florida colleagues in Congress sent him well wishes shortly after the diagnosis was made public.

“The people of South Florida have been fortunate to have (Rep. Hastings) fighting for them for decades,” wrote U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-West Boca. “Now let’s be there for him in this fight.”

First elected to Congress in 1992, Hastings is the longest-serving member in Florida’s congressional delegation. His victory 26 years ago marked the first time an African American had been elected to Congress in Florida since Reconstruction.

He served as a federal judge from 1979-1989, a tenure that was marred by a corruption scandal. A federal jury acquitted Hastings of bribery charges. Despite that acquittal, Hastings was impeached and removed from his post by Congress.

He received vindication in 1992 when he was elected to the U.S. House. He has easily won re-election since then in his reliably Democratic district.

Hastings defeated a challenger in the Aug. 28 Democratic primary by a wide margin and faced only a write-in opponent in the general election, winning almost all of the vote. His district includes majority black precincts spanning from Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach.

Hastings is known for riling Republicans with colorful and sometimes controversial comments. At one recent Democratic event, Hastings was asked the difference between a crisis and a catastrophe.

A crisis, Hastings said, is if Trump falls into the Potomac River and can’t swim. A catastrophe is if “anybody saves his ass.”

Hastings