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What do we know about Princess Kate’s cancer diagnosis so far? Doctors share insights
Catherine, the Princess of Wales, says she is undergoing preventative chemotherapy after cancer was discovered following abdominal surgery earlier this year. The former Kate Middleton announced the news in a video message released Friday.
Word of her diagnosis followed months of speculation about the 42-year-old princess’ health — speculation that only grew when a doctored image of Kate and her children was released by Kensington Palace.
“I am well,” she said in the video. “I am getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal.”
Do we know what type of cancer Kate has?
Kate did not specify what type of cancer she was diagnosed with. She said she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy on the advice of her medical team.
CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook said it sounded like her cancer was found early.
“You always want to find cancer in the earliest stages,” LaPook said. “They went in there to do whatever procedure they were going to do, and they knew it was going to be some prolonged recovery, and in there, presumably when they were able to take a good look, they didn’t see any evidence of cancer. And it was only afterwards, when I guess there maybe was an examination of a specimen, a surgical specimen, that they said, ‘Oh, there’s some cancer here.'”
He added, “Since you always want to find cancer in the earliest stages, whatever kind of cancer it is, to me that was a relatively good piece of news.”
What is preventative chemotherapy and how does it work?
Dr. Shivan Sivakumar, associate professor in oncology at the University of Birmingham, told The Associated Press it’s unclear what the princess meant by “preventative” chemotherapy, but he presumed that it’s what is known as “adjuvant” chemotherapy in the medical profession.
“This is chemotherapy after an operation to prevent recurrence,” he said. “This is to attempt to destroy any circulating cancer cells.”
LaPook said “preventative” chemotherapy typically means treatment “preventing growth of microscopic cancer cells.”
Preventative chemotherapy can have side effects, including making someone tired, LaPook noted.
He said he spoke with a cancer expert from NYU Langone Health, where he is a professor of medicine, who shared a positive outlook on the prospects for treatment.
“He said, yeah, it can be a rough three months or so, for example, but then people tend to have 100% recovery afterwards in terms of getting their strength back and getting back to normal function,” LaPook shared.
What else do we know about Princess Kate’s cancer diagnosis?
Kate did not share additional details about her condition, asking the public for “time, space and privacy” as she focuses on her treatment and recovery. She also spoke about the challenges of sharing this news with her three young children.
“This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family,” Kate said in the video message. “As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK.”
Kate’s news comes not long after her father-in-law, King Charles, announced in February that he would be undergoing treatment for an unspecified form of cancer which was discovered as he was being treated for an enlarged prostate. Charles’ wife, Queen Camilla, said he is “doing extremely well under the circumstances.”
King Charles said in a statement Friday that he is “so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did,” and said he had remained in the “closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law throughout the past weeks.”
North Pole, Alaska — ‘Twas the week before Christmas and plenty was stirring at the Santa Claus House in the city of North Pole, Alaska.
The iconic Christmas-themed store checked its list twice, realizing that it is far more naughty than nice if any of the gifts it sends out arrive late to their destinations around the globe.
“People are used to waiting until the very last minute to shop online, which presents a challenge for us having to process that order and ship it out from Alaska,” said Paul Brown, manager of the Santa Claus House, which for decades has been sending thousands of annual Santa letters to children worldwide.
In North Pole, which is located about 13 miles southeast of Fairbanks, candy canes double as street lights, and Christmas takes on special meaning for resident and FedEx driver Bill Soplu.
“Yeah, this is a wonderful time of the year,” Soplu said. “Everybody’s so happy right now, so it makes our job a lot easier.”
The cold weather doesn’t diminish Souplou’s cheer.
“Just the other day it was 30 above, you know, and then you wake up the next morning, it’s 30 below,” he said.
Nor do the moose.
“We don’t want to mess around with those guys,” he adds.
The gifts Soplu is delivering come from an airfield 20 miles down a frozen road. There are only a few hours of daylight in Fairbanks during the winter months, and the temperature hovers around zero.
An average of 3,000 packages a day come through Fairbanks during the holiday season. Capt. Joseph Erikson is a delivery pilot for FedEx.
“I know there’s a good chance there’s a special present on that plane, and it’s important to get that to that family,” Erikson told CBS News.
Before they reach Fairbanks, shipments from around the world first come through a sprawling FedEx sorting center at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.
During the holidays, there are 33 delivery planes a day which fly in and out of Anchorage carrying about 80,000 packages. The planes run around the clock so gifts can span the globe in as little as 24 hours.
“We’ve been putting these plans in place for months so we can make sure we’re getting those packages to our customers,” said David Lewis, senior manager for surface operations for FedEx in Alaska.
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Houston — Donna Thomas is a pollution warrior in Houston, Texas. She wears a mask because she believes a lifetime of breathing polluted air in her community contributed to a stroke four years ago.
Near her home, Thomas points out Texas’ largest coal-fired power plant.
“It’s the oldest thing you can be burning in our neighborhoods. It’s dangerous,” Thomas said.
To respond to communities like hers, the Environmental Protection Agency under President Biden created a new Office of Environmental Justice. It is staffed by 200 people and funded by more than $2.8 billion that goes directly to “disadvantaged, marginalized, and over-polluted communities,” including support for projects that allow neighborhoods to monitor their own air quality.
But Project 2025, a possible roadmap for President-Elect Donald Trump, recommends “eliminating the EPA’s stand-alone Office of Environmental Justice.”
“We already know that everybody’s concerned. We want our EPA to be stronger,” Thomas said.
But that is unlikely, as Trump has vowed to “cut ten old regulations for every one new regulation.”
Many business and industry leaders say environmental regulation is anti-competitive and costs them money. In his first term, Trump cut 100 environmental regulations. Just last week, he posted on social media that “any person or company investing one billion dollars… in the United States, will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including…all environmental approvals.”
Daniel Cohan, a professor and researcher at Rice University, sits on one of the EPA’s scientific advisory boards and is skeptical of the claim that environmental regulations stifle business.
“We’ve seen the oil and gas industry prosper and produce more oil and gas than ever before, even with EPA regulations,” Cohan said.
Since the EPA first started regulating clean air in the 1970s, emissions of the most common air pollutants have dropped by almost 80%. But around Houston, there’s still a long way to go. Each year, the pollution from that power plant is responsible for 177 premature deaths, a 2018 Rice University study found.
In a statement to CBS News, the plant owner, NRG, wrote: “…We have a strict policy of complying with all environmental rules and regulations and proud of our environmental record.”
Thomas believes that protecting the environment isn’t a partisan issue.
“Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, you should be protected from all the environmental issues, but you’re not because there’s no justice out here for people,” Thomas said.
And she’s convinced over the next four years that environmental regulation and enforcement will be harder to come by.
