French doctors Wednesday announced President Francois Mitterrand has prostate cancer but said the 75-year-old leader would be able to leave a hospital later Wednesday and resume normal activities.
"It is a cancer," Dr. Claude Gubler, the president's personal physician, told reporters Wednesday. "It is a question of classic cancerous lesions such as millions of Frenchmen have."But Gubler added Mitterrand planned to receive treatment that would allow him to maintain normal activities and would be able to leave the hospital later Wednesday - one day earlier than originally announced.
Officials at the presidential Elysee Palace emphasized that the disease should not prevent Mitterand from serving out his second seven-year term, which runs though 1995. They also emphasized that prostate cancer is one of the least-threatening forms of the disease.
However, Gubler's statement, issued five days after Mitterand underwent prostate surgery, quickly depressed prices on the Paris stock exchange - with the CAC-40 Index of major shares dropping more than 1.75 percent by mid-morning.