LONDON: Former England manager Sir Bobby Robson said yesterday he had been diagnosed with cancer for the fifth time.
The 74-year-old started a six-week bout of chemotherapy last week after small cancerous nodules were discovered in his lungs.
The knight has battled cancer on and off for the last 15 years and has undergone cancer surgery four times.
“Of course, it’s not the greatest news I’ve ever had but I have fought hard throughout my life and I will continue to fight. I will battle as I’ve always done,” he told The Mail on Sunday weekly newspaper.
“My last operation in August was a success but this time the doctors have said they can’t operate.
“The good news is that they are measuring the nodules in my lungs in millimetres rather than centimetres.
“That is encouraging and we are hopeful the treatment will keep it under control.
“I’ve been advised to keep busy and active, and that’s what I will be trying to do whenever possible.”
Robson vowed to carry on with his life as normal and plans to attend his annual charity golf day in Portugal next week before celebrating his 52nd wedding anniversary next month with his wife Elsie, two sons and four grandchildren.
His last battle with cancer came in August 2006 when he had a tumor the size of a grape removed from his brain. He successfully fought cancer three times previously: he had a golf ball-sized tumour removed from his lung in May 2006, while in 1995, he was discovered to have a rare form of skin cancer behind an eye.
Treatment for that involved complex surgery which left him needing a rubber plug in his mouth. Three years before that he overcame bowel cancer. — AFP
