Secretary of Defense diagnosed with prostate cancer

(KYMA, KECY/NBC) - Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to NBC News.

The announcement was made during a press conference at the Pentagon Tuesday afternoon.

On January 1, Austin was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on New Year's Day after experiencing complications from an elective medical procedure, which occurred on December 22, 2023.

According to a statement, complications include nausea with severe abdominal, hip and leg pain. Doctors then discovered that Austin had abdominal fluid collections that were impairing the function of his small intestines and drained his stomach.

Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder said Austin continues to make progress and is in good condition.

"He's in contact with his senior staff and has full access to required secure communications capabilities and continues to monitor [Department of Defense]'s day-to-day operations worldwide. At this time, I do not have any information to provide in terms of when he might be released from the hospital but we'll be sure to keep you updated and, until then, we will continue to release daily status updates on his condition.

The department recognizes the understandable concerns expressed by the public, Congress, and the news media in terms of notification timelines and DOD transparency, and I want to underscore again that Secretary Austin has taken responsibility for the issues with transparency, and the department is taking immediate steps to improve our notification procedures."

Major General Pat Ryder, Pentagon Press Secretary

To watch the livestream of the announcement, see attached video.