Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 10, 1995 TAG: 9508100053
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DALLAS LENGTH: Medium
Mickey Mantle's cancer has spread and his condition deteriorated Wednesday, but he resolved to keep fighting his aggressive disease.
CAT scans showed that Mantle's cancer has advanced beyond his liver and right lung, although doctors would not say where else it has been discovered.
The condition of the 63-year-old Hall of Famer worsened from stable to serious at Baylor University Medical Center, where he was being treated for anemia brought on by chemotherapy. Mantle is suffering from hepatoma, an aggressive form of cancer.
``This particular cancer can go anywhere ... usually the lungs, the abdomen and sometimes the bones,'' said Dr. Isaac Djerassi, a cancer specialist who has examined Mantle and would comment only generally on his illness.
``It just makes it clear that he's in big trouble,'' he said.
The hospital said the former New York Yankees slugger ``is spending time with his family and wants his friends to know he continues to fight.''
Family members contacted by The Associated Press declined comment. But a close friend, who asked not to be identified, visited Mantle on Wednesday and told the AP that Mantle greeted him ``with a firm handshake'' as he sat in a chair with his legs propped up.
``I found him to be his typical fighting, Mickey Mantle-self,'' the friend said. ``At one point his granddaughter came in the room, and he said, `There's my Miss America.' I found him to be chipper and showing a good sense of humor.''
Mantle also offered his thoughts on his former team.
``I think they are going to be right in there this year,'' the friend quoted Mantle as saying.
``The Yankees sent him a baseball signed by the team with `Get Well, Mick' on it,'' the friend added.
At Yankee Stadium, the scene of many of Mantle's greatest triumphs, the mood was somber.
``It sounds serious. It's very depressing news,'' said manager Buck Showalter. ``Certainly we're praying for him, but it puts a damper on things and gives a sense of reality of what life's all about.
``I think it's something on all Yankees fans' minds, and I'm a Yankees fan. It makes you realize that we're all eventually going to move on,'' he said.
Yankees captain Don Mattingly called Mantle ``a mythical figure in baseball.''
``He's part of the legacy of the great Yankees players. We're praying for him,'' Mattingly said.
Dr. Brian Carr, a transplant expert at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Transplant Institute who has not examined Mantle, said similar patients probably have less than 18 months to live.
``Chemotherapy in this situation has no track record of success - unless he's just very lucky,'' he said. ``You can never say never in biology.''
Mantle underwent a transplant on June 8 to replace his liver, which had been ravaged by cancer, hepatitis and years of hard drinking. On Aug.1, doctors announced the cancer had spread to his right lung.
His doctors have said they suspect the cancer was in the lung before the transplant but was so small it was undetectable. They said they wouldn't have replaced the liver had they known the cancer had spread.
Carr and Djerassi agreed that in cases such as Mantle's, the cancer often spreads to other organs and it would be useless to operate.
``The truth is, it doesn't matter. The outcome is going to be the same,'' Carr said.
by CNB