TORONTO >> Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s doctor says the mayor has cancer.

Dr. Zane Cohen, a colorectal surgeon at Mount Sinai hospital, said Wednesday Ford has a malignant sarcoma tumor which he described as "very rare" and "very difficult."

Ford has been hospitalized for a week with a tumor in his abdomen. Cohen described it as a rare type of cancer that occurs in fat cells.

Cohen said mayor will undergo chemotherapy and that he will be treated with fairly intensive chemotherapeutic agents.

The mayor withdrew his re-election bid Friday as he undergoes treatment, dramatically ending a campaign he had doggedly pursued despite calls for him to quit amid drug and alcohol scandals and a stint in rehab.

Doug Ford is running for mayor in his brother’s place.