LONDON: On Friday, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif informed his cancer specialist that all his tests had come back negative for the rare disease.
The former prime minister was told that there is no recurrence of the cancer that has troubled the PML-N leader for a long time.
Shehbaz, who reached the UK on August 20 last month, underwent several cancer-related tests as he is required medically to get tested every year. Dr Martyn Caplin, a renowned cancer specialist, has seen his latest tests.
It is to be noted that the former prime minister was diagnosed with a scarce and dangerous form of cancer called “Adenocarcinoid” back in 2000.
The PML-N leader was treated at Sloane Kettering Hospital in New York in 2003 for many months.
The New York doctors had advised Shehbaz to get himself regularly checked up in London by Dr Caplin, who is a Professor of Gastroenterology and GI Tumour Neuroendocrinology. Since then, the former premier has been getting his cancer tests done every year.
“Dr Martyn Caplin has shared the good news that Shehbaz Sharif is cancer-free and there is no recurrence,” said a source in Wellington Hospital, St John’s Wood, where Shehbaz has been visiting frequently.
Furthermore, the former Punjab chief minister has his back-spine-related checkups scheduled for the next week on Harley Street at the clinic where he has been getting checked regularly, the source added.
It is pertinent to mention that Shehbaz will return to Pakistan once his next round of checkups — unrelated to cancer — is completed in about ten days.
Since reaching London, the former premier has met his elder brother and PML-N supremo, Nawaz Sharif, and discussed vital political developments in the run-up to the general elections.
Shedding light on Nawaz’s return, The PML-N president said his brother will return to Pakistan in October this year.
During his stay in London, the former prime minister and his brother Nawaz had also met with GCSE top scorer and world record holder Mahnoor Cheema.
Shehbaz is in London on a 10-day visit for his medical treatment and to meet his elder brother and the PML-N supremo.