Rob Ford to have cancer surgery May 11

Toronto Coun. Rob Ford learned from doctors today that he'll be able to undergo surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from within his body.

Ford was told by his medical team that surgery will be possible.

"I got good news today," Ford said when speaking with reporters outside Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, after he had spoken to his doctors. "The operation will take place on Monday, May 11."

'It's a long, long haul. It's not over yet,' was how Toronto city councillor Rob Ford described his cancer prognosis in December. He has undergone five rounds of chemotherapy since his September diagnosis. (Mark Blinch/Reuters)

Ford said his operation will involve four surgeons and could last up to 10 hours.

The surgery will put him "out of commission" for about four months, he said.

The former mayor said that doctors had informed him his tumour had shrunk enough after treatment to make surgery possible, while a second tumour has "pretty well disappeared."

Ford was diagnosed with liposarcoma last fall and underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

He turns 46 next month.