American business magnate Warren Buffett has been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer and will begin radiation treatments in mid-July, but the 81-year-old, who shows no plans on retiring any time soon, said it is not life-threatening.
The chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway tried to assure the shareholders in a letter made public late Tuesday that his ailment is curable and the radiation will only restrict his travel but rest of his routine will remain normal.
“I feel great – as if I were in my normal excellent health. And my energy level is 100 percent. I discovered the cancer because my PSA level (an indicator my doctors had regularly checked for many years) recently jumped beyond its normal elevation and a biopsy seemed warranted”, said Buffett in the letter.
The Wizard of Omaha was diagnosed with prostate cancer on April 11 and has since received a CT scan, a bone scan and an MRI. He confirmed that there is no indication of cancer elsewhere in his body.
“The chance of dying of prostate cancer for Mr. Buffett in the next 10 years is probably 2% or 3%, so the prognosis is great,” said Dr Ralph deVere White, director of the Comprehensive Cancer Centre at the University of California.
Although, cancer experts have assured that the diagnosis is not a major concern as is the earliest and mildest form of prostate cancer, but the news has defiantly added pressure on Buffet to name his successor.
Still, Buffett has not publicly named his heir, but he has revealed in his annual letter to shareholders in February that he has chosen a successor with consent of Berkshire’s board of directors, adding that there are two backup candidates as well.
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