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Sen. Klobuchar Says She Was Treated For Breast Cancer Earlier This Year

Senate Judiciary Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., speaks during a hearing with a Senate Judiciary subcommittee in June. Klobuchar said Thursday she was treated for breast cancer earlier this year.
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Senate Judiciary Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., speaks during a hearing with a Senate Judiciary subcommittee in June. Klobuchar said Thursday she was treated for breast cancer earlier this year.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., announced Thursday that she underwent radiation treatment for breast cancer earlier this year and her doctors recently confirmed that the treatment went well.

"Of course this has been scary at times, since cancer is the word all of us fear, but at this point my doctors believe that my chances of developing cancer again are no greater than the average person," Klobuchar said in a post on Medium.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports Klobuchar, 61, "was sitting in her apartment in Washington, D.C. waiting to cast a vote on the pandemic federal stimulus package when she got the news."

A mammogram in February alerted Klobuchar to a possible issue, and a biopsy later confirmed it was stage 1A breast cancer. She completed a course of radiation in May. In her post, Klobuchar noted that many people have delayed routine exams because of the pandemic — including her.

"It's easy to put off health screenings, just like I did. But I hope my experience is a reminder for everyone of the value of routine health checkups, exams, and follow-through," she wrote. "I am so fortunate to have caught the cancer at an early enough stage and to not need chemotherapy or other extensive treatments, which unfortunately is not the case for so many others."


This story originally published in the Morning Edition live blog.

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Dana Farrington is a digital editor coordinating online coverage on the Washington Desk — from daily stories to visual feature projects to the weekly newsletter. She has been with the NPR Politics team since President Trump's inauguration. Before that, she was among NPR's first engagement editors, managing the homepage for NPR.org and the main social accounts. Dana has also worked as a weekend web producer and editor, and has written on a wide range of topics for NPR, including tech and women's health.