Edwards Campaign Goes On

The campaign goes on

John Edwards said Thursday that his wife is now battling an incurable reappearance of cancer but vowed to continue his second bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"The campaign goes on. The campaign goes on strongly," Edwards told reporters, his wife by his side.

The recurrence of the cancer -- this time on Elizabeth Edwards' bone -- presents a setback for the couple, both personally and politically. But both said the cancer was treatable and that they would stick with their plans to campaign vigorously for the nomination.

"From our perspective, there was no reason to stop," Edwards said. "I don't think we seriously thought about it." [...]

The couple, married 30 years, have a grown daughter, Cate, and two young children, Emma Claire and Jack. Their teenage son, Wade, died in 1996 when high winds swept his Jeep off a North Carolina highway.

"We've been confronted with these kind of traumas and struggles already in our life," Edwards said. "When this happens you have a choice -- you can go and cower in the corner or you can go out there and be tough."

Elizabeth Edwards added: "We're always going to look for the silver lining -- it's who we are as people."

On stage 4 breast cancer...

Bone cancer outlook:

The bone is one of the most common places where breast cancer spreads, and once it does so it is not considered curable.

But it is treatable, and how long women survive depends on how widespread the cancer is in the bone. Many women survive for years. The longer it takes for cancer to spread after the initial tumor, the better the prognosis. Elizabeth Edwards was diagnosed in 2004.

Chemotherapy and radiation are standard treatments, along with use of drugs that specifically target the bones called bisphosphonates. Other treatments include hormone therapy if the cancer is responsive to estrogen.

"I will have what will be a less debilitating kind of chemotherapy ... for the rest of my life," Elizabeth Edwards said.

Dr. Lisa Carey, Edwards’ physician, said that initial tests showed some very small suspicious spots elsewhere, but that the therapy focus would be on the bone. Asked where else, she said "possibly involving the lung."