Former Sen. Ben Sasse says he was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer

Former Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., announced Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with "metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer," writing in an X post that the diagnosis is "a death sentence.""Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die," Sasse, 53, wrote in the lengthy post.

Former Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., announced Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with "metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer," writing in an X post that the diagnosis is "a death sentence."

"Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die," Sasse, 53, wrote in the lengthy post. "Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence. But I already had a death sentence before last week too — we all do."

"This is hard for someone wired to work and build, but harder still as a husband and a dad," Sasse later wrote, going on to praise his wife and three children.

Sasse represented Nebraska in the Senate from 2015 until early January 2023, when he resigned to become president of the University of Florida. Sasse stepped down as the university's president last year amid his wife's struggles with epilepsy and memory issues.

Sasse, a staunch conservative and self-described "constitutional warrior," was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict President Donald Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection in his second impeachment trial. Just three of those Republicans — Maine's Susan Collins, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski and Louisiana's Bill Cassidy — remain in the Senate. Trump was acquitted.