Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has been diagnosed with early stage nasopharyngeal cancer and breast cancer, she said Monday.
In an interview with The Times, the 18-time Grand Slam champion said she was diagnosed with stage 1 throat cancer and early breast cancer. Navratilova, who discovered a lump in her neck two months ago, will begin treatment this month.
Navratilova told The Times: “This double incident is serious but still fixable. “I am hoping for a favorable outcome. It will stink for a while but I will fight with all I have.”
Navratilova, 66, is not expected to attend the Australian Open because of her duties with the Tennis Channel.
This will be Navratilova’s second battle with breast cancer, after successfully defeating the non-invasive disease in 2010.
A representative told The Times in a statement that her throat cancer, HPV, responded well to treatment.
“Martina noticed an enlarged lymph node in her neck during the WTA final in Fort Worth,” the statement said. “When it didn’t go down, I did a biopsy, it turned out to be stage one nasopharyngeal cancer.
“At the same time Martina was undergoing throat exams, a suspicious shape was found in her chest, which was later diagnosed as cancer, completely unrelated to throat cancer.” statement continued.
Navratilova has 9 Wimbledon singles titles. Her total of 18 Grand Slam titles tied Chris Evert for the third-most wins in the Open era, behind Serena Williams (23) and Steffi Graf (22).
