Hillary Clinton sends message of support for Senator Claire McCaskill diagnosed with breast cancer

The Missouri Senator expects a full recovery and will be receiving treatment over the next three weeks

Senator McCaskill has fought for gay marriage, a minimum wage and gender equality (Getty)

Well-wishers have been flooding social media in support of progressive Senator Claire McCaskill who has announced that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Democrat Senator McCaskill from Missouri, who has spoken out for gay marriage, gender income equality, the huge amount of money spent on Iraq and bailing out the banks following the 2008 crash and more, announced via Tumblr on Monday that she “very recently learned” that she has breast cancer.

It was detected via a “regular mammogram”.

“It’s a little scary, but my prognosis is good and I expect a full recovery. I will be in St Louis for the next 3 weeks receiving treatment,” she wrote.

She has received support over Twitter from presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, Senators Deb Fischer, Roy Blunt, Elizabeth Warren and Lindsey Graham, as well as from esteemed news anchors like Rachel Maddow and Joe Scarborough, as reported by Mashable.

One of her most recent fights has been on child immigration policy. As part of a bi-partisan Senate probe alongside Senator Rob Portman in January, she was not afraid to browbeat the head of the Department of Health and Human Services about how he planned to reform the government agency to prevent convicted felons of child abuse being accepted as guardians of migrant children. She also openly despaired when the DHS representatives left the hearing before they had even listened to the testimonies provided by several women who had spent decades working with vulnerable children.

Senator McCaskill has been welcomed for her open and personable approach with her constituents. She is a prolific tweeter and gave fashion tips to people asking what they should wear for jury duty.

She is also an ardent feminist and supporter of gender equality. Speaking to MSNBC in August last year, she said we should all redefine what it means to be “ladylike” after her former rival Todd Akin accused of her not assuming this trait.

“[…] you can be ladylike even if you’re outspoken and aggressive,” she said.

Bill Browning, a gay rights activist and freelance writer said on Twitter: "Thankfully, Sen. Claire McCaskill is a fighter."