Doctors say diagnosis of Princess Catherine’s cancer is a familiar scenario

Although it is not known what type of cancer Princess Catherine has, oncologists say that what she described in her public statement that was released Friday — discovering a cancer during another procedure, in this case a “major abdominal surgery” — is all too common. “Unfortunately, so much of the cancer we diagnose is unexpected,” said Dr. Elena Ratner, a gynecologic oncologist at Yale Cancer Center who has diagnosed many patients with ovarian cancer, uterine cancer and cancers of the lining of the uterus.