By Former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse has announced that he has been diagnosed with metastatic, stage-four pancreatic cancer, describing the prognosis in stark terms while framing it within a broader reflection on faith, family, and mortality.
Sasse, 53, disclosed the diagnosis in a lengthy and personal post on Twitter. He announced he was diagnosed last week and referred to the illness as a “death sentence,” before adding a sobering qualifier: “We all do.”
The former Nebraska Republican, who resigned from the Senate in 2023 to become president of the University of Florida and later stepped back into an emeritus role, used the post to reflect on life, responsibility, and hope in the face of terminal illness. He emphasized that his message was not rooted in optimism but in realism shaped by Christian belief. “A well-lived life demands more reality—stiffer stuff,” Sasse wrote.
Sasse devoted much of the post to his family, marking 30 years of marriage to his wife, Melissa, and reflecting on their three children. He described the joy of daily life with them and the pain of contemplating missed milestones. “I couldn’t be more grateful to constantly get to bear-hug this motley crew of sinners and saints,” he wrote.
He also detailed his children’s recent accomplishments, including one child’s commissioning into the U.S. Air Force, another’s early college graduation while teaching advanced sciences, and a 14-year-old now legally learning to drive.
Friends-
This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase: Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die.
Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence.…
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 23, 2025
Pancreatic cancer is among the deadliest forms of the disease, particularly when diagnosed at stage IV, when it has already spread to other organs. Sasse said he plans to pursue immunotherapy, describing recent developments in the field as a “jawdropping advance,” while acknowledging the limits imposed by late-stage diagnosis.
The post drew immediate and wide-ranging responses from across the political spectrum. Media figures, conservative activists, and elected officials offered prayers and messages of support. Sasse’s disclosure quickly trended on Twitter, with commentators praising the candor and tone of his message.
A historian by training, Sasse served in the Senate from 2015 to 2023 and earned a reputation as an intellectually rigorous conservative willing to break with his party, most notably when he voted to convict former President Donald Trump during the second impeachment trial in 2021. He later brought a highly visible, hands-on leadership style to the University of Florida before stepping back in 2024 following his wife’s epilepsy diagnosis.
In the Advent message, Sasse grounded his reflections in scripture, citing Isaiah: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.” He distinguished that promise from sentimentality, writing that hope is not denial of suffering but endurance through it.
Sasse said he intends to continue sharing updates as he undergoes treatment, approaching the months ahead with faith, humor, and resolve. As his family prepares for Christmas under profoundly altered circumstances, the former senator’s message has resonated as a public meditation on mortality, belief, and what it means to live deliberately in the face of unavoidable limits.
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