Former US senator reveals terminal cancer diagnosis in frank statement

Ben Sasse, a former U.S. Senator for Nebraska, has announced he has been diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer.

Sasse, 53, shared the news in a frank statement on social media, stating he learned of the disease last week and described it as a "death sentence."

“This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase,” Sasse wrote in a lengthy post. “Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die. Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence. But I already had a death sentence before last week too — we all do.“

He served in the Senate from 2014, winning re-election in 2020, and was known for his vocal criticism of Donald Trump's character and policies.

Sasse was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump of "incitement of insurrection" following the 6 January 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.