Labour's Wes Streeting back at work and cancer free

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Wes StreetingImage source, Getty Images

Labour MP Wes Streeting has announced he is "cancer free" following an operation to remove a kidney.

The MP for Ilford North was admitted to hospital in March with a kidney stone, when a scan revealed a lump on the same kidney.

He was then diagnosed with cancer in April, and said the news at the age of 38 had been an "enormous shock".

In a video posted on social media he said he was "back at work, fighting fit and cancer-free".

Mr Streeting became a Labour MP in 2015 and is seen as a rising star in the party.

He was promoted to Labour's shadow cabinet in May, to a new role focusing on child poverty.

A week later he announced he would be taking time off and "following doctors orders" until he made a full recovery.

"Because of that kidney stone the cancer was caught early" he said.

"I just count my lucky stars, really. I've lost a kidney but I've also got rid of the cancer. No chemotherapy, no radiotherapy."

He used the video message to thank people who contacted him with messages of support, and praised staff at the King George, Queens and Royal Free Hospitals who treated him.

"Because they caught the cancer really early and without that early action, the conversation we would be having might be a very different one," he said.

A number of MPs from across the parties replied with congratulations, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan said "London's NHS truly are the best."

According to statistics from Cancer Research UK, external, kidney cancer is the seventh most common cancer in the UK, with around 13,100 new cases in the UK every year.

The research charity says most people who are diagnosed with kidney cancer do not have any symptoms, and common treatment includes surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

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