GOP tax-writer Camp says he's cancer-free

By Elise Viebeck - 12/18/12 10:59 AM ET

The House's chief GOP tax writer announced Tuesday that he is cancer-free following treatments for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

“I am extremely thankful for the excellent treatment I received from dedicated physicians, nurses and medical staff," Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) said in a statement.

"It not only allowed me to become cancer-free, but also sustained me in my work both as the Representative of Michigan’s Fourth Congressional District and as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. I want to thank everyone for their many words of encouragement, understanding and prayers."

Camp, 59, announced his diagnosis in July, saying he would undergo chemotherapy every three weeks for a "very early, highly treatable and curable type" of cancer.

In the ensuing months, Camp often wore a baseball cap around Capitol Hill to cover his hair loss from the treatments.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, or NHL, begins in the cells of the immune system.

Its survival rate is 63 percent over 5 years and 51 percent 10, according to the American Cancer Society. Some patients, like Camp, may make a full recovery.

Camp's subtype was non-Hodgkin's large B-cell lymphoma.