Lloyd Austin’s secretive hospitalization was for prostate cancer surgery, doctors say

Defense secretary, 70, kept his diagnosis hidden from his deputy as well as Joe Biden, prompting White House response

The defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, has prostate cancer and his recent secretive hospitalization was for surgery and later to treat a urinary tract infection related to that operation, doctors said on Tuesday.

The 70-year-old Austin was admitted to Walter Reed national military medical center on 22 December and underwent surgery to treat the cancer. Austin developed the infection a week later. Senior administration and defense officials were not told for days about his hospitalization or his cancer.