Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, hospitalized since Wednesday, began chemotherapy to treat a form of leukemia, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Thursday.
Berlusconi, 86, will have received his first treatment after being admitted to the intensive care unit of Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital, the Italian news agency said, citing “qualified sources” that it did not identify.
The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera also reported that Berlusconi “began chemotherapy to combat leukemia.”
According to medical sources cited by RAI, Berlusconi “has blood problems that are cause for concern.”
On Wednesday, Italian media said Berlusconi, leader of the Forza Italia party, was receiving treatment for cardiovascular problems and to restore the oxygen level in his blood.
In recent years, Berlusconi has suffered from various health problems, including heart disease and an infection with the Covid-19 virus, which led to his hospitalization in critical condition with pneumonia.
Forza Italia announced that Berlusconi spoke by phone this morning with the party’s national coordinator, Antonio Tajani, the head of the parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies, Paolo Barelli, and other party leaders.
Tajani, who is foreign minister, said Berlusconi spent the night “calm and stable.”
Barelli said the former prime minister was suffering from an infection “from something he already had” and had been hospitalized for tests.
The leader of the Forza Italia parliamentary group preferred “not to go into details” when asked if Berlusconi suffered from leukaemia.
“In the next few hours we will be informed of its progress,” he said, according to the Spanish news agency EFE.
Despite his age and the numerous lawsuits he has faced, Berlusconi remains a popular figure in Italy.
In the last elections, on September 25, 2022, he was able to return to the position of senator and his party is part of the current coalition government led by Giorgia Meloni.
Source: TSF
