Presidential candidate John Edwards announced sad news Thursday: Cancer has returned to his wife, Elizabeth. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, when her husband was the Democratic vice presidential candidate.
Since then, Elizabeth Edwards has undergone surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment; she was thought to be recovering. Now, she has learned that the cancer has returned, and has spread from the breast to the bone.
While it is not curable, Elizabeth Edwards' cancer is treatable, and doctors are optimistic. That news has led her husband to announce that he will continue his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
John Edwards has said he would not run if his wife's health is a factor. At a news conference Thursday, John and Elizabeth Edwards announced that it is not.
Edwards said that immediately after today's news conference, he and Elizabeth were leaving for a campaign trip to New York, Massachusetts, and California.
Polls among Democratic voters show him running behind Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the nomination, though he is running strong in the early caucus state of Iowa, where he has spent a lot of time in recent months.
Edwards said today that he has given no serious thought to ending his campaign.
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