Tom Brokaw Says Cancer Is Now In Remission

Journalist and author Tom Brokaw, 74, is ending 2014 on a high note -- he’s winning his battle with cancer, and the disease is in remission. “A year ago my future was more uncertain than I cared to acknowledge but now I face the New Year with very encouraging news," he said in a letter NBC News that was distributed to staff. "The cancer is in remission and I will shortly go on a drug maintenance regimen to keep it there."

In February, Brokaw was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer that begins in the plasma cells of bone marrow. At the time, NBC said doctors were optimistic about Brokaw’s treatment.

Brokaw is now retired from “NBC Nightly News,” his primary job at the network from 1982 to 2004. He is now a special correspondent for NBC. He has three daughters, five grandchildren and been married to his wife, Meredith Lynn Auld, since 1962.

Multiple myeloma is also known as plasma cell myeloma or Kahler’s disease. It is a type of cancer that infects a person’s plasma cells, which are white blood cells that are responsible for producing antibodies. In multiple myeloma, abnormal plasma cells build up in the bone marrow and interfere with the production of healthy blood cells. The five-year survival rate is 45 percent, and bone pain and anemia are two common symptoms.