Top Navy officer completes treatment for breast cancer

The Navy’s top admiral and the first woman to lead a U.S. military force said she is in good health following treatment for stage 1 breast cancer, the Navy announced Friday.

Doctors treating Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti said she is now “cancer-free” after completing radiation therapy earlier this month, the Navy said.

Franchetti, 60, is being treated at the John P. Murtha Cancer Center at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, a Navy news release said. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in June after a routine mammogram and underwent outpatient surgery in July, temporarily transferring her authority to Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. James Kilby.

She has now completed radiotherapy and started maintenance therapy with endocrine hormones this month.

“I am grateful to my wonderful team of physicians at the John P. Murtha Cancer Center for their outstanding care and their development of a treatment plan that will allow me to continue to lead the best Navy in the world,” Franchetti said in a statement. “I am blessed that this was caught early and will always be an advocate for early and routine screening.”

Franchetti was in New London, Connecticut this week to present the crew of the USS Indiana with the service’s first-ever Arctic Service Medals. Franchetti also released her strategic guidance to the Navy on Wednesday, calling on the service to be prepared for a potential war with China in 2027.

Breast cancer affects 1 in 8 women in the United States, according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation Inc. The disease is the second leading cause of death for American women after lung cancer. Breast cancer death rates fell 43% between 1989 and 2020, partly due to better screening and early detection, as well as improved treatment options.

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“The chance that a woman will die from breast cancer is 1 in 39, or about 2.5%,” the foundation said. “Women who are regularly screened for breast cancer have a 26% lower death rate from breast cancer than women who are not screened.”

Franchetti is the first woman to serve as the Navy’s top admiral, and she is also the first woman to be appointed a permanent member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. She was confirmed as CNO in November after Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) blocked the Senate from holding a mass vote on senior officer promotions.

She is the third senior defense official to face a serious health issue in the past year. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith suffered a heart attack during a run in October 2023 and spent several months recovering before returning to full duties in March.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was rushed to the hospital in January with complications from prostate cancer surgery just before Christmas. The Pentagon did not announce that Austin had been hospitalized until four days later.

Austin later apologizes for not disclosing his hospital stay sooner, explaining that he initially wanted to keep his cancer diagnosis a secret.

“We didn’t handle this well, and I didn’t handle this well,” Austin told reporters at a Pentagon news conference on Feb. 1. “I should have told the president about my cancer diagnosis. I should have told my team and the American public. And I take full responsibility. I apologize to my teammates and to the American people.”