Candidate Scott Hawkins Announces Cancer Diagnosis

ANCHORAGE — Gubernatorial candidate Scott Hawkins today announced that he is undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer, and said his prospects for recovery are good.Hawkins was first diagnosed in February and took quick and decisive action to arrest the tumor. He has traveled to Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle for aggressive treatments while maintaining his campaign schedule and monitoring results from a regimen of drug therapy. His treatment will continue in both Anchorage and Seattle.

"In recent months, I learned that I am confronted by a serious adversary -- cancer. Through a dedicated treatment regimen and prayer, I plan to join the tens of thousands of Alaskans who now call themselves cancer survivors. The first round of treatment has provided a great deal of information, and because of my underlying good health and my confidence in my medical team,

I'm very positive that I will defeat this disease," Hawkins said. "After consulting with my doctors, and based on their positive prognosis, I will continue my campaign for Governor. Dr. Vincent Picozzi, an oncology physician and internationally recognized pancreatic cancer

expert at Virginia Mason in Seattle, is leading Hawkins’ treatment team. He offered this assessment: “Scott presents with very good underlying health and an absence of other complications. His cancer is localized and has not spread to other organs. Given the advances in recent years in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, and the results we have been seeing here at Virginia Mason, I am treating him with full curative intent.”

Dr. Picozzi and his staff take in over 300 such cases each year and are considered a national center of excellence in the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Dr. Steven Liu of Alaska Oncology is also a member of Hawkins’ treatment team. He supports Dr. Picozzi’s assessment. Dr. Liu added that, “Scott’s tumor is still small. We will shrink it further with treatment, prior to surgery. That makes him an excellent candidate for a successful surgery. Scott has been tolerating the drug treatments remarkably well, which gives us more treatment options and adds further optimism to his prognosis.”