Andrew Lloyd Webber Declares Himself Cancer-Free; Describes Treatment Ordeal

In a lengthy article for London’s Daily Mail laced with his trademark barbed humor, Andrew Lloyd Webber has written in detail of his diagnosis and treatment for prostate cancer. Declaring himself “fighting fit,” the Phantom of the Opera and Love Never Dies composer reveals that his cancer had not spread from the prostate, which was removed in November in an operation made difficult due to several underlying conditions. “I will need regular follow-up checks over the years,” Lloyd Webber notes in the January 12 article, “but we have arrived—at the end of a long journey—at the best possible outcome.”

Lloyd Webber begins his medical tale by poking fun at unnamed “PR honchos” who urged him not to reveal he had cancer, suggesting he blame his hospitalization on being run-down or having an infection. “I suggested saying I was having a boob reduction,” he quips. “That didn’t go down well.” The composer had had difficulty urinating for some time, but initial exams didn’t indicate a serious problem. However, when he compared the results of PSA tests (a marker for prostate cancer) with previous tests, he became concerned.

As he juggled meetings for the February 2010 London premiere of Love Never Dies and a new reality TV series to cast the role of Dorothy in a stage version of The Wizard of Oz, Lloyd Webber continued to consult specialists, his sense of humor intact. “Up to this point I had thought ‘prostatectomy’ was a pre-Raphaelite painting,” he writes.

The removal of the prostate, which should have been a fairly routine procedure, was complicated by scar tissue from a 1950 appendectomy and a previously undiagnosed e-coli infection. Becoming serious, Lloyd Webber writes, “Let’s get real. If that infection had been found and cured, I could have been blissfully unaware that I had a cancerous tumour that was on the verge of breaking loose around the rest of my body.”

Throughout the article, the 61-year-old father of five urges men to be aware of their health and check out any symptoms. “I say to every red-blooded male, if you do begin to have a problem down under, however embarrassing, go your GP at once.”