The Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday, January 9, that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is being treated for prostate cancer.

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA): The US Ministry of Defense has said that Austin suffered complications from a urinary infection and was hospitalized after prostatectomy surgery.
 
"His infection has cleared up" and his condition is improving, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder told reporters of Austin's treatment. He added, "While the process [of recovery] can be slow, we anticipate a full recovery."
 
As of Tuesday morning, more than two weeks after undergoing surgery in late December and eight days after being rushed to the hospital on New Year's Day, Austin met President Joe Biden, according to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. He had not informed about his cancer.
 
On January 2, Austin transferred his authority to his deputy without explanation, a move that the Pentagon considers routine for various reasons. But Austin's team did not inform President Biden about the defense minister's hospitalization for three days.
 
Meanwhile, it is reported that Joe Biden is under increasing pressure to fire his defense secretary after the US defense minister did not inform the president of his hospitalization.
 
Jim Banks, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, described the reports as "very disturbing" and said that Lloyd Austin "has been a disaster from day one."
 
Banks said Lloyd Austin should be fired and replaced by someone who prepares the military to win wars, not advance the political goals of the Biden administration.
 
Many other Republican representatives in Congress have made similar criticisms and called for Lloyd Austin to be reprimanded or fired.
 
However, the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center released a statement saying that Austin was rushed to the hospital on January 1 due to vomiting and severe abdominal, pelvic and leg pain.
 
According to this announcement, the cause was fluid accumulation in the abdomen, which affected the functioning of his small intestine. In this announcement, it is stated that the doctors have removed this complication by emptying the stomach through the nasal tube.
 
John Maddox and Gregory Chesnut, Austen's treating doctors, said in the announcement that Austen's cancer was diagnosed early.
 
They said in this announcement: "Prostate cancer is the most common cause of cancer among American men and it affects one out of eight American men in their lifetime."
 
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among American men, and one out of every 38 American men dies from prostate cancer.
 
According to a report by the American Cancer Society, after skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer among men.
 
Prostate cancer is more common in elderly men and six out of every 10 patients with this disease are over 65 years old. This type of cancer is rare before the age of 40.