Former Sen. Ben Sasse says he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
Former Republican Sen. Ben Sasse shared a devastating personal update Tuesday, revealing that he has been diagnosed with metastasized stage 4 pancreatic cancer and speaking with stark honesty about what lies ahead.
“Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence,” Sasse, 53, wrote on X. “But I already had a death sentence before last week too — we all do.” In the post, he reflected on mortality and said he is drawing strength from family and close friends, calling death “a wicked thief” that eventually comes for everyone.
Sasse served Nebraska in the U.S. Senate from 2015 to 2023 before stepping away to become the 13th president of the University of Florida. He later resigned from that role to care for his family after his wife was diagnosed with epilepsy, a decision he described at the time as deeply personal and necessary.
Known for his independence in the Senate, Sasse was one of seven Republicans who voted to convict President Donald Trump during the second impeachment trial tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. His outspoken criticism of Trump often made him a target, including being derided by the former president as a “grandstanding, little-respected senator” at a 2022 rally.
Even as he confronts a terminal diagnosis, Sasse made clear he does not intend to fade quietly. “I’ll have more to say. I’m not going down without a fight,” he wrote, pointing to recent advances in immunotherapy and stressing that while death is inevitable, the act of living — even while dying — still matters. He said his household is facing the moment with resolve, faith, and a dose of gallows humor.
Pancreatic cancer makes up only about 3% of new cancer cases in the United States, yet it is the third leading cause of cancer deaths and is projected to become the second by the end of the decade. Early detection can improve outcomes, but there is currently no single reliable test to catch the disease early.
Dr. Brian Wolpin, director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, said most patients learn they have pancreatic cancer only after it has spread. “Eighty percent or more of patients present with advanced disease,” he said, “where we know at the time of diagnosis that we’re very unlikely to be able to cure the cancer.”
