From the deaths of John Sykes and former Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards to an update from Mike Peters, here’s this week’s cancer news.
John Sykes, a guitarist known for his work with Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake, has died. The announcement, posted to Sykes’ official Facebook page on Jan. 20, 2025, said he died after a “hard-fought battle with cancer,” but it did not specify what type of cancer Sykes had when he died.
Sykes, according to a post on his official website, died in 2024, and the BBC reported he was 65.
The guitarist joined Thin Lizzy in 1982, and then became part of Whitesnake in 1984, the BBC reported, with Sykes eventually recording two albums with the latter band.
Sykes’ time in Whitesnake included the band’s 1987 self-titled album featuring a pair of hit singles co-written by Sykes, “Is This Love” and “Still of the Night.”
“It is with great sorrow we share that John Sykes has passed away after a hard-fought battle with cancer,” read the statement on Sykes’ website. “He will be remembered by many as a man with exceptional musical talent but for those who didn’t know him personally, he was a thoughtful, kind and charismatic man whose presence lit up the room.”
Mike Peters, frontman for Welsh hit-making rockers The Alarm, is set to begin CAR-T cell therapy treatment for Richter’s Syndrome, according to a report from the BBC.
According to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, for 2% to 10% of patients with CLL, the disease will transform into something more complex.
“Of this small group, 95% may develop diffuse large-B cell lymphoma, and the other 5% may develop Hodgkin lymphoma. This is known as ‘Richter transformation’ or ‘Richter’s syndrome,’” The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society explains on its website.
Peters, 65, received a diagnosis of Richter’s Syndrome, described by the BBC as an aggressive lymphoma, in April 2024. He had previously received a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1995, then chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in 2005, followed by relapses of CLL in 2015 and 2022.
CAR-T cell therapy, according to the National Cancer Institute, is a type of treatment where a patient’s own T cells, a part of the immune system taken from a patient’s blood, are changed in a laboratory so that they will learn to attack cancer cells.
“My white lymphocytes were harvested in December. Those were then sent to a laboratory where each blood cell was re-engineered by scientists and then targeted to seek and destroy the Richter's Syndrome," Peters said, according to the BBC.
Cecile Richards, the former longtime president of Planned Parenthood and an activist for abortion access and women’s rights, died on Jan. 20, 2025, at the age of 67, the Associated Press has reported.
Richards, according to the Associated Press, had been diagnosed with the aggressive form of brain cancer glioblastoma in 2023, five years after the end of her 12-year tenure as the leader of Planned Parenthood.
Before her time at Planned Parenthood, she was the deputy chief of staff for House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi, in a statement, said, “It was my privilege to work directly with Cecile for many years and to have a front-row seat to her sharp intellect, strategic thinking and relentless effectiveness. As she ascended to other leadership roles, we never stopped working together to defend the rights of women and working families,” according to the Associated Press.
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