Broadcaster Andrew Marr will go into hospital this week to have an operation to remove a malignant tumour on his kidney.
A statement from Marr’s agent Mary Greenham said he is “expected to make a full recovery and will be returning to the airwaves soon”.
Ms Greenham added: “He and his family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”
Marr (58) will step down from hosting his weekly Sunday programme The Andrew Marr Show while recuperating.
He told viewers at the end of Sunday’s show: “I am going to be away for a couple of weeks or so.
“I’m having a small hospital operation and I will be back as soon as I possibly can, so be kind please to whoever is sitting in this chair next week.”
The surgery comes five years after Marr, the BBC’s former political editor, suffered a stroke.
Marr spent two months in hospital and underwent extensive physiotherapy to help him walk following the stroke in January 2013.
He returned to hosting The Andrew Marr Show in September of that year.
He recounted his recovery, investigated the workings of the brain and trialled experimental US treatment in his 2017 documentary Andrew Marr: My Brain And Me.
A BBC spokeswoman said: “Andrew is taking a period of time off for medical reasons. We wish him well and look forward to welcoming him back on our screens soon.” – PA