The tumor removed from Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan’s intestines by surgery last Sunday was malignant but there are no indications of it having spread, his physician, Dr. Boleslaw Goldmann, director of the Tel Hashomer Hospital, reported tonight. Goldmann told a television interviewer that Dayan could be back at his job in three weeks and could continue to function normally. He would have to undergo regular tests for a period of time. If they proved satisfactory, he would be considered cured, Dr. Goldmann said.
The doctor, who was a member of the surgical team that operated on Dayan, gave the impression that the Foreign Minister stood a good chance of beating the dread disease by having caught it in time, But he acknowledged that “there is certainly a theoretical possibility” that it could recur. He said the tumor was removed from Dayan’s large intestine together with a part of the intestine and some surrounding tissue.
During the operation, surrounding organs such as the liver were examined and found unaffected. The biopsy also showed that the surrounding tissue was unaffected. On the basis of those findings, Goldmann said, there were no indications of the malignancy having spread. He said Dayan was the first person to hear the results of the tests, at noon today, and that he reacted “as to a piece of information.” Premier Menachem Begin visited Dayan this afternoon and TV cameras showed Dayan smiling in welcome although his voice sounded weak and hoarse.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
