George Harrison 'Feeling Fine' After Latest Cancer Treatment

ByABC News
July 10, 2001, 6:22 PM

July 9 -- George Harrison told his fans today, "I am feeling fine" and not to worry about him after reports surfaced that he is suffering from a brain tumor.

The 58-year-old former Beatle battled lung cancer last year, and now the musician's London lawyer confirmed that Harrison recently underwent radiotherapy treatment at a Swiss cancer clinic in Bellinzona. Neither Harrison's lawyer nor his physician confirmed the nature of the musician's illness but indicated that the musician did not need any more treatment.

In a message to fans, Harrison said, "I am feeling fine, and I am really sorry for the unnecessary worry which has been caused by the reports appearing in today's press. Please do not worry."

Swiss cancer specialist Franco Cavalli confirmed that he had recently treated Harrison.

"Mr. Harrison successfully completed this course more than a month ago, and we foresee no need for further treatment here," he told Reuters.The Swiss newspaper Sonntagszeitung reported on Sunday that Harrison had been treated for a brain tumor at the hospital in May and June.

Harrison Has a History of CancerHarrison, the youngest of The Beatles, who has a history of cancer, had rented a house in Luino, Italy, a 40-minute drive from Bellinzona, during the cobalt radiation treatment. At the beginning of May, he had surgery at the Mayo Clinic in the United States to remove a cancerous growth from one of his lungs. Harrison overcame throat cancer in 1998, which he blamed on smoking. He was given the all-clear after radiation therapy.

"I gave up cigarettes many years ago but had started again for a while and stopped in 1997," he said at the time. "Luckily for me, they found that this nodule was more of a warning than anything else."

Survived Knife Attack in 1999Just over 18 months ago, Harrison survived a life-and-death struggle of a very different kind with a knife-wielding intruder who stabbed him in the chest. The musician was almost killed in the attack at his home near London in late 1999. Only the actions of his wife, Olivia, who hit the attacker on the head with a poker and table lamp, saved him. Harrison was known as the "quiet Beatle" during the Fab Four's heyday in the 1960s. "I guess if you've got to be in a rock group it might as well be The Beatles," he once quipped of the group, which included his more famous bandmates John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr.