Guitarist/bandleader says he is 'healthier than ever and beating' the
>disease. Eddie Van Halen acknowledged for the first time on Thursday that he
>has cancer, and said he's winning his battle against the disease.The Van
>Halen leader and guitar virtuoso said in a message posted on his band's
>official Web site (www.van-halen.com) that "although it's hard to say when,
>there's a good chance I will be cancer-free in the near future.""I'm sorry
>for having waited so long to address this issue personally. But cancer can be
>a very unique and private matter to deal with. So, I think it's about time to
>tell you where I'm at," Van Halen said in the statement. "I was told that I'm
>healthier than ever and beating cancer." — Eddie Van Halen Â
>"I was examined by three oncologists and three head and neck surgeons at
>Cedars-Sinai just before spring break and I was told that I'm healthier than
>ever and beating cancer."Van Halen, who is 46, did not divulge what kind of
>cancer he has. A publicist for the band at Warner Bros. Records confirmed the
>Web site statement came from the guitarist, but could provide no additional
>information.Toshia Johnson, a spokesperson for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in
>Los Angeles, said she could not say whether Van Halen had been treated at the
>hospital.Last May, a spokesperson for M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston
>denied reports that Van Halen had cancer, but said the guitarist was being
>treated in a cancer prevention program at the hospital.The spokesperson, Jane
>Brust, said Friday that Van Halen continued that program over the last year,
>but hasn't been at the cancer center for several months. Doctors at that
>hospital have never diagnosed him with cancer, Brust said.Former Van Halen
>singer David Lee Roth, who announced last week that he had recorded with Van
>Halen in July but hasn't heard from him since, said Friday that he was
>shocked to find out the guitarist is ill."I was stunned this morning to learn
>that Eddie Van Halen has cancer," Roth said in a statement posted on his
>official Web site (www.davidleeroth.com). "My condolences. You can whip this,
>champ. See ya down the road." — Brian Hiatt
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