WATCH: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s brother complained of abdominal pain while eating breakfast with his brother Doug Sept. 10. Doctors at Humber River Hospital performed a CT scan and found a tumour.
He was diagnosed with a tumour on Wednesday, transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital Thursday and by Friday, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford withdrew from the city’s mayoral race.
His brother, councillor Doug Ford, entered the race officially just after 1 p.m. The deadline to have his name on the ballot was 2 p.m. Friday.
It’s been a series of bad days for the Toronto mayor. A CT scan revealed a tumour after Ford was sent to Humber River Hospital for dealing with months of “unbearable” abdominal pain.
“My heart is heavy when I tell you that I’m unable to continue my campaign for re-election as your mayor,” Ford said in a statement.
“While I’m unable to commit to the heavy schedule required for a mayoral candidate I will not turn my back on Ward 2.”
READ MORE: Doctors weigh in – Rob Ford in hospital for tumour in his abdomen
He’s slated for an MRI Friday, but the biopsy results for the mass found in his abdomen won’t be known for about a week.
WATCH ABOVE: Finding out a loved one has a tumour is devastating news for any family. But, when you’re the mayor of Toronto and a notable public figure like Rob Ford, it all plays out in public. Mike Drolet reports on the state of Ford’s health and what his diagnosis means for his reelection campaign.
The details about Ford’s health are sparse. The CT scan simply provides doctors with a snapshot of what may be growing inside the body.
A biopsy, which involves sticking a needle through the skin to where the mass has developed, provides the diagnosis, according to Dr. Malcolm Moore, a Princess Margaret Cancer Centre oncologist. Moore does not treat Ford.
“He’s resting comfortably, he has some pain. We are giving him some pain medication for that,” Dr. Zane Cohen, an internationally recognized colorectal surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital, said.
Cohen is leading the clinical team treating the mayor.
“We will not have the results of the biopsy for another week and when that happens, we will inform the family and we will proceed from there,” Cohen said.
READ MORE: Ford’s biopsy results not known for a week
When asked whether he’s seen masses of a similar size as the one in Ford’s abdomen that are benign, Cohen answered, “yes.”
The abdomen is home to multiple organs – the stomach, the liver, the pancreas as well as the small intestine and the colon. The crushing pain Ford experienced for months could suggest that the tumour was growing for some time.
“There are a lot of things packed into the abdomen and if something starts to grow, it puts pressure on everything around there,” Moore explained.
It doesn’t automatically mean it’s cancer, though. The tumour could be benign. In other instances, there are different parts of the abdomen that could be affected. Many of the common cancers in Canada are in the abdomen – the second most common cancer in the country is colon cancer, followed by pancreas and stomach cancers that are also in the Top 10.
Could he be physically fit to continue on with his workplace demands? It’s hard to answer. With so little information, Moore couldn’t speculate on Ford’s condition specifically.
READ MORE: Possible diagnoses for Rob Ford
“There are a lot of different diagnoses that could be made from that,” Dr. Alex Boussioutas told The Canadian Press. He’s a gastroenterologist from Australia’s Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, one of the country’s leading facilities.
“But the most common thing to be thinking about and the one that we would want to exclude would be colon cancer obviously…so if I had to hazard a guess as a clinician that’s what I would be thinking was happening,” he told the wire service.
WATCH ABOVE: What Rob Ford could be suffering from and a look at what colon cancer is and the steps to treatment.
Another concern is making sure the cancer hasn’t spread of if it’s linked to previous issues. In 2009, Ford had abdominal surgery to remove a tumour on his appendix.
If the tumour happens to be malignant, treatment options are wide and varied depending on the cancer he may be dealing with. The first option is conventional surgery to remove the cancer that’s obvious to doctors. Then, chemotherapy or radiation could be at play.
Cancer risk increases as patients get older. Ford, at only 45, is on the younger end of the spectrum. Ninety-five per cent of the time, common cancers appear in people older than 50, and the average is usually in their late 60s or 70s.
“Having said that we do see people younger than 50. It’s not unheard of,” Moore said.
Ford’s father, Doug Ford Sr. died of colon cancer in 2006. Keep in mind, it’s well documented that having close relatives develop cancer increases your risk.
– With files from the Canadian Press
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
Follow @Carmen_Chai
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