Bob Dole says he’s been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer

TOPEKA, Kan. — Bob Dole, a former longtime senator and the 1996 Republican presidential nominee, announced Thursday that he has been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer.

Dole, 97, said in a short statement that he was diagnosed recently and would begin treatment on Monday.

“While I certainly have some hurdles ahead, I also know that I join millions of Americans who face significant health challenges of their own,” he said.

Dole received an immediate outpouring of sympathy, prayers and well wishes from across the political spectrum.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, called Dole a friend and tweeted wishes for a speedy recovery. Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran, a Republican who holds the seat Dole once did, expressed sadness at the cancer diagnosis and offered his prayers. Freshman Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, who received Dole's endorsement in running last year and described him as a mentor, said he's not known “a man with a bigger heart.”

Retired four-term Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, a Republican, predicted that Dole would fight cancer “with his usual grit and determination.”

“We know cancer is tough, but Bob Dole is tougher,” Roberts said in a statement.

Dole, a native of Russell, Kansas, represented the state in Congress for almost 36 years before resigning from the Senate in 1996 to challenge Democratic President Bill Clinton. Dole had unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination in 1980 and 1988, and he was President Gerald Ford's vice presidential running mate in 1976, when Ford lost to Democrat Jimmy Carter.