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Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has been diagnosed with a rare type of cancer, his doctor said Wednesday.

“It is a difficult and very rare type of tumour,” Dr. Zane Cohen said in a Wednesday evening press conference, describing Ford’s cancer as a malignant liposarcoma.

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“It’s a fairly aggressive tumour…but we are treating this aggressively in order to irradiate the tumour. We are optimistic about this tumour.”

Dr. Cohen said he is “optimistic” that chemotherapy could be successful. There is a large tumour in his abdomen and a smaller one in his buttock, near his left hip, the surgeon said.

The abdomen tumour is about 12 by 12 centimetres (about 4 inches), larger than the width of a baseball. The other tumour is about two centimetres.

Chemotherapy will begin within 48 hours. Doctors will decide the next step depending on how his tumour responds to treatment. There may be additional rounds of chemotherapy or surgery, Dr. Cohen said.