Last round of chemotherapy for Brazil's Lula

Dec 12, 2011, 19:33 GMT

Sao Paulo - Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was admitted Monday into the Hospital Sirio-Libanes in Sao Paulo for the third and last round of chemotherapy prescribed to treat cancer of the larynx.

Lula, who on Sunday said he felt 'confident' that the treatment will be successful, was also expected to undergo examinations to determine whether the chemo has managed to reduce or even eradicate the 3-centimetre tumour found on October 29.

'I have been optimistic all my life,' he said. 'I think we will win this battle too.'

Lula, 66, was expected to spend the night in hospital and return home to Sao Bernardo do Campo, near Sao Paulo, on Tuesday.

The left-leaning statesman underwent the first chemo treatment on October 31, and the second on November 21. In January, if everything goes according to plan, he is set to begin radiotherapy.

Doctors have for now ruled out surgery, and said Lula's odds of achieving a full recovery were 'very good.'

Lula left office in January after eight years as Brazil's president. Last month he shaved his head, as well as the beard that had been his trademark since the 1970s, in anticipation of the side effects of chemotherapy, which often causes hair loss.

His successor, Dilma Rousseff, also battled cancer in 2009.

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