Lloyd Austin, US Secretary of Defence, attends the fifth meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group at the US base in Ramstein. Boris Roessler/dpa
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has prostate cancer, the hospital treating him says.
The disease was recognized early and the prognosis for a cure is "excellent," Walter Reed Military Hospital in Bethesda, Md. — outside of the US capital — announced on Tuesday.
The Pentagon in Washington has been criticized for not telling either President Joe Biden or the public quickly about Austin's condition.
The 70-year-old has been hospitalized since the beginning of the year due to complications following an operation at the end of December.
