The Navy’s highest-ranking military officer is treated successfully for breast cancer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy’s highest-ranking military officer, was treated successfully for early-stage breast cancer this summer, the service announced Friday.

Franchetti’s stage 1 breast cancer was discovered during a routine mammogram in June, and she underwent outpatient surgery in July at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to treat it. She temporarily transferred power to her vice chief of naval operations during that time.

She underwent additional therapy this month and is now cancer-free, the Navy said. Franchetti is the second senior defense official to announce a cancer diagnosis this year.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized in January after complications from prostate cancer treatment but waited for weeks to tell anyone, including President Joe Biden, of his diagnosis. He was in the hospital for days without notifying the White House, drawing harsh criticism from Capitol Hill and spurring multiple reviews.

A defense official said Franchetti notified Austin, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown Jr., the secretary of the Navy and others in her chain of command when she was diagnosed in June and notified them again during her July surgery.

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