Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi in hospital being treated for leukaemia
- The 86-year-old had heart surgery in 2016, has also had prostate cancer, and has been repeatedly admitted to hospital since contracting Covid-19 in 2020
- The four-times prime minister’s Forza Italia party is part of PM Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition, although he no longer has a role in government
Four-times Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been diagnosed with leukaemia, a source close to the matter said on Thursday, a day after he was admitted to intensive care with breathing problems.
The 86-year-old, whose media empire has made him a billionaire, is being treated in a cardiac unit of Milan’s San Raffaele hospital.
There has been no official comment on his condition, but the source’s diagnosis of leukaemia, a cancer of the blood cells, confirmed a report in the Corriere della Sera daily.
Italian news agency ANSA reported that Berlusconi had begun chemotherapy, with an initial treatment at the hospital on Wednesday. He remained in a stable condition on Thursday, the report added.
Two of Berlusconi’s children, daughter Marina and son Luigi, arrived at the hospital on Thursday but did not speak to reporters and camera crews waiting outside.
Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition, though the former prime minister does not have a role in government.
