Miriam: 90% of cancer cells gone

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago on Thursday, October 16, informed her fellow senators that 90% of her cancer cells have “regressed” since she started treatment for lung cancer 3 months ago.

Santiago gave the health update in a letter to other senators dated October 16, which she said was in compliance with the “requirements of collegial courtesy.”

“Six weeks after my diagnosis and after taking modern medication, the scans and other laboratory tests showed that some 70% of the cancer cells had regressed. Now, over three months after diagnosis, the same scans and tests showed that some 90% of the cancer cells have regressed,” she said.

She said, however that she is “not yet physically fit” to attend the plenary sessions due to the “debilitating fatigue” caused by cancer, though she has managed to discharge her duties as chair of some Senate committees.

Santiago said she has also continued to file bills and resolutions, and conduct speaking engagements – on the condition that the event will not last beyond her two-hour “physical limit.”

She furnished a copy of her letter to the Senate secretariat with the request that her committee and other activities “be credited as official discharge of my Senate duties,”  and that the letter “should be made part of my personnel files, to prevent malicious comments about my Senate attendance.”

In July, Santiago announced that she had Stage 4 lung cancer. The following month, she said she might seek the presidency in 2016 if she fully recovers this year. – Rappler.com