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Microsoft Co-Founder Sees Recurrence of Cancer

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News Posted: Tue, Nov 17 2009 12:46 PM
Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft in 1975 with Bill Gates, has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL).  This is a recurrence of the disease;  Allen previously fought and beat NHL after being diagnosed in 1983, the year he left Microsoft.

Since leaving Microsoft, Paul Allen has purchased three pro sports teams: the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers, and MLS's Seattle Sounders that began playing in the 2009 season.  Additionally, he is the founder and chairman of Vulcan Inc., his private asset management company.

A memo was sent to employees of Vulcan, as well as the media, by Vulcan CEO Jody Allen, who is also Paul Allen's sister:
To employees of Vulcan and affiliates:

   I want to let you know that Paul was recently diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

   He received the diagnosis early this month and has begun chemotherapy. Doctors say he has diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a relatively common form of lymphoma.

   This is tough news for Paul and the family. But for those who know Paul's story, you know he beat Hodgkin's a little more than 25 years ago and he is optimistic he can beat this, too.

   Paul is feeling OK and remains upbeat. He continues to work and he has no plans to change his role at Vulcan. His health comes first, though, and we'll be sure that nothing intrudes on that.

   We would ask you to respect Paul's privacy and not discuss this outside of the office.

   If you have any questions, please ask your EC member.

   Thank you in advance for what I know will be all your good thoughts for Paul.

   Jody
According to the American Cancer Society, there has been a general decline in Hodgkins lymphoma rates over the past 30 years, this disease now accounts for only 1 percent of all cancers. At the same time, rates of NHL have increased by more than 70 percent during this same period. NHL is currently the fifth most common type of cancer in the U.S. and accounts for about 4 percent of all cancers.
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gibbersome replied on Tue, Nov 17 2009 1:36 PM

He was 30 years old when he was first diagnosed with it. But health care in this country is best if you can pay for it, and Allen has good odds on his side such as being under 60.

If anyone is wondering how serious this is, it's hard to tell without more information, but this probably shouldn't be discussed in a public forum. A person's health is a private matter.

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3vi1 replied on Tue, Nov 17 2009 5:40 PM

>> A person's health is a private matter, unless it's Steve Jobs's.

FTFY.

"The solution is patenting as much as we can. A future startup with no patents of its own will be forced to pay whatever price the giants choose to impose. That price might be high. Established companies have an interest in excluding future competitors."-- Bill Gates, 2002-08-15

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bob_on_the_cob replied on Tue, Nov 17 2009 7:10 PM

As with anyone else no matter what there social status or job I hope only for the best. 

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rapid1 replied on Sun, Jan 31 2010 6:27 PM

As do I Bob Cancer can obviously be a very big issue. I wish him the best in his fight.

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Inspector replied on Sun, Jan 31 2010 6:33 PM

All we can say and do is Best of luck and keep fighting!

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Soupstyle replied on Sun, Jan 31 2010 10:48 PM

There are some new treatments for nHL coming out, hopefully he will be able to get into a trial if normal treatment doesn't work.

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gibbersome replied on Mon, Feb 1 2010 8:12 AM

Soupstyle:

There are some new treatments for nHL coming out, hopefully he will be able to get into a trial if normal treatment doesn't work.

 

Thanks for the article Soup. I've met the lead scientist, Dr. Ari Melnick, while doing research at Sloan Kettering institute a while back, really brilliant guy.

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caos420 replied on Mon, Feb 1 2010 10:33 AM

Let's keep Paul in our prayers.

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