Rob Ford: Ex-Toronto Mayor receives palliative care after discovering second tumour

Family members have surrounded the former Mayor after doctors discovered another tumour in his bladder

Rob Ford speaking to the press in 2014 (Getty)

Former Mayor of Toronto Rob Ford is receiving palliative care after suffering from cancer for the last two years, his chief of staff has said.

Dan Jacobs confirmed that Mr Ford, who now serves on the Toronto City Council, has not responded to chemotherapy after a tumour reappeared in his bladder.

Mr Ford had already fought off a tumour in his abdomen the previous year.

The controversial former Mayor is receiving treatment at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto but his care regimen has apparently changed.

A family statement read: “Palliative care is often administered in conjunction with other treatments, and he has in fact been receiving it almost since first becoming diagnosed, both at home and the hospital.”

They said it was typical to receive palliative care if someone has a serious illness or injury, to deal with symptomatic issues like pain or mental stress and to allow the patient to be as comfortable as possible.

Mr Ford is also being sedated.

“Doctors have been clear since Councillor Ford's diagnosis that he is dealing with an extremely serious illness,” said Mr Jacobs. ”They are very concerned with the reappearance and progression of the disease, but everyone is hopeful that his body will be able to fight back enough that he can then undergo further treatment.”

Mr Ford’s brother, Doug Ford, told the Toronto Star that his relatives have spent days and nights with him, and said that his brother is “a fighter”. Family members have set up a Get Well Rob Ford website so people can share their own messages of support.

The 46-year-old was stripped of his mayoral powers in 2013 after he admitted to using crack cocaine, being drunk in public and driving under the influence.

Mr Ford aimed for a second run as Mayor after the scandal, but in autumn 2014 he announced he had a rare form of cancer called pleomorphic liposarcoma that grows in the fat cells, and he had a tumor in his abdomen.

He remained in politics and won his old Toronto City Council seat.

Doug Ford announced his brother’s cancer had come back in November after the first tumour was removed last spring.