CNN Today

Rudy Giuliani Announces He Has Prostate Cancer; Weighs Many Treatments

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani says he has prostate cancer. The likely Republican candidate for U.S. Senate made the announcement at a morning news conference. Giuliani says doctors diagnosed the cancer yesterday. The mayor says the bad news is he has cancer, but the good news is it is in the early stages. He says he has just begun to review his options, both medical and political.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI (R), NEW YORK: Over the next week, maybe two weeks, maybe 2 1/2 or three weeks I will figure out with my doctor and other doctors what the best and optimum form of treatment will be. Obviously the bad news is that there's cancer and the good news is that there are lots of possible options and it is going to take a while to determine which option is the best one to bring about a complete cure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Prostate cancer is as treatable as it is common. Mayor Giuliani and others like him have more options than men did just a decade ago.

CNN medical correspondent Dr. Steve Salvatore reports on the treatment plans the mayor is likely reviewing with his doctors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. STEVE SALVATORE, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mayor Rudy Giuliani is one of more than 180,000 men who will learn they have prostate cancer this year, the second most common type of cancer in men. Men who have a family history of prostate cancer are at increased risk of the disease. Giuliani's father died of prostate cancer in 1981. Today newly diagnosed patients have many treatment choices.

GIULIANI: Obviously the bad news is that there's cancer and the good news is that there are lots of possible options, and it's going to take a while to determine which option is the best one to bring about a complete cure.

SALVATORE: Recent studies suggest the decision should be based on the grade and state of the cancer. If the tumor is slow-growing and localized within the prostate gland itself, radical surgery may be avoided, and a type of radiation called "radioactive seed implantation" or standard radiation may be used.

Hormone therapy is often used to slow the growth of the cancer and in some men, especially the elderly with lower risk tumors, watchful waiting may be the best option, where doctors closely monitor the tumor's growth.

But for those with more aggressive type tumors, research shows surgical removal of the prostate called "radical prostatectomy" is more likely to cure the disease than other treatment options.

Sixty-eight-year-old Ellis Corets was diagnosed with prostate cancer six years ago. He had to choose between treatment options.

ELLIS CORETS, PROSTATE CANCER SURVIVOR: I think any man facing those -- that prospect is deeply concerned.

SALVATORE: He chose to have his prostate gland removed and today Ellis Corets is a prostate cancer survivor. The mayor says he will be discussing his treatment options with his doctors and will decide what to do in the coming weeks.

Dr. Steve Salvatore, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com