Brazil's Lula declared cancer-free after exam

RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has no sign of the throat cancer he was treated for, doctors said Sunday.

Lula was admitted to the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital in Sao Paulo on Saturday after complaining of fatigue and loss of appetite, but after extensive medical exams doctors said there was no sign of the cancerous tumor he was diagnosed with late last year.

"We took advantage of the exams to evaluate the tumor, and from a tomographical point of view, the tumor can no longer be seen," one of Lula's doctors, oncologist Artur Katz, told local paper Folha de Sao Paulo.

Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends the inauguration of the new Minister of Education Aloizio Mercadante and Minister of Science and Technology Marco Antonio Raupp at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia January 24, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

However, doctors will still have to conduct an endoscopy at the end of the current round of chemotherapy in about four to six weeks to determine whether the tumor is completely gone, he added.

Lula was diagnosed with throat cancer in October and immediately underwent rigorous treatment. He finished a third round of chemotherapy in December.

The three rounds of chemotherapy have reduced the 3-centimeter-long tumor by 75 percent, medical reports said. Lula's doctors decided not to use surgery to treat his throat cancer.

Doctors said the fatigue and loss of appetite Lula complained of were a normal side effect of his cancer treatment, which has also caused him to lose nine kg in weight.