Mayor Rob Ford has been diagnosed with cancer.

Dr. Zane Cohen, the renowned colorectal surgeon, said Wednesday that Ford has malignant liposarcoma. He will be treated with chemotherapy, Cohen said.

Cohen would not say what the chances are of a full recovery. He said he is “optimistic” about the treatment. Ford’s tumour is “fairly aggressive,” he said, and has likely been present for two or three years.

Cohen, speaking at a news conference at Mount Sinai Hospital, said Ford will receive chemotherapy for three days, then have an 18-day “washout period.” He said he is not sure if Ford’s treatment will eventually involve radiation or surgery.

Ford, who withdrew from the mayoral election on Friday, was hospitalized a week ago. He is now a council candidate in Ward 2 (Etobicoke North).

Ford, 45, said earlier in the week that he was vomiting and in pain. He suggested his condition was dire, telling the Toronto Sun, “I guess the good Lord wants me somewhere else.”

Doug Ford replaced his younger brother on the mayoral election ballot. He has not yet formally begun campaigning.

“It’s a tough day,” he said in brief remarks outside Mount Sinai earlier on Wednesday.

Doug Ford, brother Randy Ford, mother Diane Ford, and the mayor’s wife Renata Ford visited the mayor in the hospital ahead of the announcement.

"We have a lot of faith in the doctors and we have a lot of faith in God," Renata Ford said.

Unless he takes a formal leave of absence, Rob Ford will remain in charge of the city until the new mayor is sworn in December 1. Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly is the city’s de facto leader, having been assigned most of the mayor’s powers in November.

The Fords’ father, former MPP Doug Ford Sr., died of colon cancer in 2006, three months after he was diagnosed.

“The most important thing, most important thing, is your health,” Rob Ford said in his speech at the wedding of assistant Jerry Agyemang in August. “Friends, you can have everything in the world. If you haven’t got your health you don’t have very much.”

A scheduled evening debate between mayoral candidates John Tory and Olivia Chow was cancelled in the early afternoon. Tory and Chow are both planning to respond to the Ford news on a street corner behind city hall after 5:30 p.m.

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“I hope Mr. Ford doesn’t have cancer,” Chow, whose husband Jack Layton died of cancer in 2011, said earlier in the day. She said she had worn yellow, the colour of the anti-cancer daffodil symbol, in support.

“Today, our thoughts are with the mayor and with his family, and we will resume the campaign at an appropriate time in full,” said Tory. He said he was sending Ford “positive energy.”

After Ford dropped out of the mayoral race, he said he was “unable to commit to the heavy schedule required for a mayoral candidate” but was able to run for council.

“I could be facing a battle of my lifetime, and I want the people of Toronto to know that I intend to face this challenge head on, and win,” he said in his statement last week.

More to come

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