by KYW's Tony Romeo

Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor has announced that she is battling cancer.

In a letter posted on her state web site,  Catherine Baker Knoll says she is being treated for neuroendocrine illness.  In it, Knoll, 77, says, “Let me make it clear: I am being treated for cancer.”

In her letter Knoll maintains an upbeat tone, saying she is being treated aggressively, that the results so far are encouraging, and that she intends to continue her duties as lieutenant governor -- which include presiding over the state senate.

But the Harrisburg Patriot newspaper attributed members of the Rendell administration as saying Knoll is “quite ill.”

Knoll says she is following her doctors’ orders and that she feels fine. To read her letter, visit www.ltgovernor.state.pa.us.