Timeline: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has battled health issues in 2014

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford diagnosed with rare form of cancer

The tumour in Rob Ford's abdomen, the discovery of which led the mayor of Toronto to drop out of the election last week, is both malignant and rare, according to medical authorities.

By The Canadian Press | The Canadian Press

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has battled personal health troubles in 2014. Some key dates:

April 30: The lawyer for Ford announces the Toronto mayor will take a leave of absence to seek help for substance abuse.

June 30: Ford returns from rehab to resume his limited duties as mayor, saying that seeking treatment for substance abuse was a life-saving decision. He promises his commitment to "living clean is unwavering.'' And Ford makes it clear he intends to continue his campaign to be re-elected mayor.

Sept. 10: Ford is admitted to hospital after complaining for months of abdominal pain. Doctors discover a tumour and a biopsy is done the next day after he is transferred to the downtown Toronto Mount Sinai Hospital.

Sept. 12: Citing his health, Ford withdraws from the mayoral race just ahead of an official deadline to do so.

Instead he files papers to run again for council in his former suburban Toronto ward.

Sept. 17: Dr. Zane Cohen of Mount Sinai Hospital tells a news conference Ford has been diagnosed with malignant liposarcoma, which arises in soft tissue structures and makes up about one per cent of cancers. He says Ford will undergo two rounds of chemotherapy treatment over the next 40 days. The mayor's brother, Doug Ford, says the diagnosis has been "devastating" but that Rob Ford "remains upbeat and determined to fight this."