Argentine President has thyroid cancer

BUENOS AIRES, Dec 28 (Reuters): Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has thyroid cancer and will undergo surgery next month, a government spokesman said on Tuesday, adding that the cancerous cells had not spread. Fernandez, 58, was easily re-elected to a second four-year term in October and her new government was sworn in earlier this month. Fernandez was diagnosed with a papillary carcinoma that has not metastasized, said her spokesman, Alfredo Scoccimarro. The operation is scheduled to take place on January 4 and she is expected to take a leave of absence until January 24. "If everything is as they said officially, she shouldn't have any other problem. The sickness hasn't spread," said Buenos Aires-based oncologist Mario Bruno. Papillary carcinoma is the most common type of thyroid cancer and normally affects people under the age of 40, especially women. A skilled orator fond of glamorous clothes and make-up, Fernandez still wears black as she mourns her husband and closest advisor, former President Nestor Kirchner, who died late last year. When Kirchner died, many thought it spelled the end of the couple's idiosyncratic blend of state intervention, nationalist rhetoric and the championing of human rights.