Is every important male in NYC politics going to get it? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` from http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/regional/ny-safir.html May 10, 2000 Safir Says Biopsy Confirms Cancer of the Prostate Related Article Loyal, Driven Deputy Is Ready to Step in By KEVIN FLYNN n an announcement that underscored the prevalence of prostate cancer, Police Commissioner Howard Safir said yesterday that he was told last week that he had the disease. He announced the news just a week and a half after Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani learned that he had the same kind of cancer. Mr. Safir, 58, said his cancer, like the mayor's, had been detected by a routine blood test conducted as part of an annual physical examination and was then confirmed by a biopsy. The commissioner said his doctors have told him the cancer is in an early stage and treatable, and should not affect his ability to continue as police commissioner, aside from the few weeks he might take off should he elect to have surgery. "I'm lucky they caught it early," he said in an interview. "The C word is a scary word because it is something that you have very little control over, but fortunately this is treatable and curable." Mr. Safir said he had told the mayor about his cancer last Thursday night at Gracie Mansion and that Mr. Giuliani had been reassuring and had shared with him a bevy of research into treatment options. Yesterday afternoon, during a news conference at Police Headquarters, the two men spoke of their deep affection for each other and then hugged in front of a room filled with reporters and senior police officials. "You couldn't write this script," Mr. Safir acknowledged. The mayor said: "This is a very strange and ironic thing. We're both dealing with the same thing at the same time." Just minutes before the 3:45 p.m. conference, Mr. Safir met with his senior staff members to tell them the news. "They were shocked, subdued, but supportive," said a senior police official who was present. That two high-profile public officials were told within days of each other that they had prostate cancer illustrates just how common the problem is. It is diagnosed in an estimated 184,000 American men each year, making it the second most common type of cancer in men, after skin cancer. The chances for a cure are 80 percent to 95 percent if it is detected at an early stage. "It is bizarre that it is striking all of these people in government," said Raoul Lionel Felder, a divorce lawyer and a Safir friend. "Our prayers go out to him. But he will deal with it. He is that kind of person." Like Mayor Giuliani, Mr. Safir said he hoped that discussing his cancer publicly would persuade other men over 50 to be tested for the disease. During the conference, Mr. Safir, who can seem stiff in public settings, appeared unusually relaxed, standing next to his wife, Carol, who at times rested her hand on his shoulder or swung her arm around his waist. At one point, the commissioner recounted a conversation with his doctor in which he had asked, "Am I going to die from this?" The doctor, whom he declined to identify, told him, "Absolutely not." Mr. Safir said the cancer in his prostate, a walnut-sized gland behind the penis, had been detected last week when the results of a test showed elevated levels of P.S.A., or prostate-specific antigen, in his blood. After the diagnosis was confirmed by a biopsy, Mr. Safir said, he underwent a bone scan and CAT scan on Thursday that determined that the cancer had not spread. The commissioner said the proximity of his tests to those of the mayor was a coincidence. Mr. Safir said that, like Mr. Giuliani, he planned to research treatment options, including surgery and radiation. Mr. Safir said his doctors told him that if he underwent surgery he could expect to be out of work for three weeks. During that time, the department would be run by First Deputy Patrick E. Kelleher. Otherwise, Mr. Safir said, he expects to be remain on the job, although he would not commit to serving through the mayor's term, which ends in December 2001. Alternatives to surgery include external radiation or the implantation of so-called radiation seeds. Mr. Safir said that his friends generally recommended the treatment option that had worked for them. "It's like Chevys and Fords," he said. "The people who drive Chevys like Chevys. The people who drive Fords like Fords." He said that aside from the mayor, he had disclosed the news only to his family and a few close friends before the news conference. Several of the friends said they were stunned by the disclosure because Mr. Safir, who exercises regularly, plays basketball and does in-line skating, appeared to be quite fit. Mr. Safir said he had recovered completely from triple heart bypass surgery he underwent in 1997. Before Mr. Safir, the last police commissioner to encounter serious health difficulties was Ben Ward, who was hospitalized for asthma in 1987 and resigned because of it two years later. Mr. Safir, who succeeded William J. Bratton in 1996, is in his fifth year as police commissioner.Before assuming the post, he served as Mr. Giuliani's fire commissioner and, before that, had a long career in federal law enforcement, including several positions within the Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Marshals Service, where he became associate director of operations. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com/ <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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