Raskin gives update on cancer treatment: ‘I’m losing about 40 or 50 hairs a day’

By Aaron Pellish, CNN

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland said Sunday he’s “very optimistic” about his cancer treatment and has “gotten lots of support” from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

“I am hanging tough, my energy is good,” Raskin, who announced last month that he had been diagnosed with diffuse large B cell lymphoma, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”

“I’m losing about 40 or 50 hairs a day, I would think, to chemo, so that’s upsetting. But otherwise, I’m hanging tough, and the doctors are very optimistic, and I’m very optimistic that the chemo is going to get the cancer,” the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee told Tapper.

He had said in a December statement that he was beginning “a course of chemo-immunotherapy on an outpatient basis at Med Star Georgetown University Hospital and Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center,” noting that the “prognosis for most people in my situation is excellent after four months of treatment.”

According to the American Cancer Society, diffuse large B cell lymphoma “tends to grow quickly” and is frequently treated with chemotherapy through a four-drug regimen administered in cycles three weeks apart. It can be cured in about half of all patients, but it largely depends on factors including the stage when the disease is caught, the society notes.

Raskin said Oversight Chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who appeared separately Sunday on “State of the Union,” has “been very kind” following the diagnosis.

“Chairman Comer has been very kind to me, and I’ve gotten lots of support across the aisle and from all my colleagues, and I’m very grateful for that,” Raskin said.

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CNN’s Shawna Mizelle contributed to this report.