
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 17, 1990                   TAG: 9005170317
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

FREED AMERICAN HOSTAGE ROBERT POLHILL HAS

Freed American hostage Robert Polhill has a cancerous growth around his vocal cords that will require surgeons to remove his voice box, his physicians said Wednesday.

Such radical surgery, scheduled today, might have been avoided if the tumor had been diagnosed sooner, doctors said.

The tumor "is quite old, probably at least a year," Col. Russ Zajtchuk, deputy commander of clinical services at Walter Reed Medical Center, said at a news conference.

"If it had been discovered earlier, he probably wouldn't have to lose his voice box, provided he had the right radiation therapy," Zajtchuk said.

There is no evidence the cancer has spread, but Polhill's treatment will include radiation therapy, Zajtchuk said.

Polhill, 55, was held captive by Shiite Moslems in Lebanon for 39 months before being released April 22. He has told his doctors he was visited by physicians eight or 10 times during his captivity.

"I'm pretty sure they didn't examine his throat," Zajtchuk said.

by CNB