George Alagiah takes TV break after cancer spreads

BBC presenter George Alagiah volition beryllium taking a interruption from TV aft discovering his crab has dispersed further, his cause has said.

He was archetypal diagnosed with signifier 4 bowel crab successful 2014 and has stepped backmost from presenting intermittently for attraction since then.

The journalist, 66, returned to the BBC's News astatine Six successful April.

Working successful the newsroom "has been specified an important portion of keeping energised and motivated", said Alagiah.

In a statement, helium said "it's backmost to the pugnacious stuff" aft a scan showed his crab had dispersed further.

"I'm missing my colleagues", helium said, adding that helium was looking guardant to returning to the workplace "as soon arsenic I can".

The quality was confirmed by his cause Mary Greenham.

In January, Alagiah said helium thought the crab helium had had since 2014 would "probably get maine successful the end", but helium inactive feels "very lucky".

Speaking connected the podcast Desperately Seeking Wisdom helium said that erstwhile his crab was archetypal diagnosed, it took a portion for him to recognize what helium "needed to do".

"I had to halt and say, 'Hang connected a minute. If the afloat halt came now, would my beingness person been a failure?'

"And actually, erstwhile I look backmost and I looked astatine my journey... the household I had, the opportunities my household had, the large bully luck to bump into (Frances Robathan), who's present been my woman and person for each these years, the kids that we brought up... it didn't consciousness similar a failure."

Alagiah underwent 17 rounds of chemotherapy to dainty his precocious bowel crab successful 2014 and said helium was a "richer person" for it upon returning to presenting the pursuing year.

As good arsenic presenting the news, Alagiah has worked arsenic a BBC News overseas analogous and specializer connected Africa and the processing world, covering events including the Rwandan genocide and interviewing Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Most radical with these symptoms bash not person bowel cancer, but the NHS proposal is to spot your GP if you person 1 oregon much of the symptoms and they person persisted for much than 4 weeks.

And if you, oregon idiosyncratic you know, person been affected by cancer, accusation and enactment is disposable connected the BBC's Action Line page.