WXRT icon Lin Brehmer going on leave of absence for prostate cancer treatment

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Veteran WXRT radio personality Lin Brehmer announced Tuesday that he is taking a leave of absence from the air to undergo chemotherapy for prostate cancer.

Brehmer said in a social media post that he has been fighting prostate cancer for several years and has been through radiation treatments, biopsies, CT scams, MRIs, and drug therapies.

"The cancer was caught early, treated early, but it has spread places one would rather it did not spread," Brehmer wrote. "Starting Monday I will begin a long period of chemotherapy. It is necessary for me to take a leave of absence from my radio show."

Brehmer noted he has the full support of his family and friends and WXRT to get through his medical sabbatical, and he hopes to be back on the air down the road to announce, "It's Friday. It's Great to be Alive."

Brehmer, 67, has been on the air at WXRT since 1991 – as morning drive host until 2020 and as midday host since. Before that, going back to 1984, Brehmer served as music director at WXRT – a role in which Colgate Magazine noted he screened "50 to 60 albums a week for the gems that deserved airtime."

Brehmer started in radio at Colgate University in upstate New York, and also worked for WQBK-FM in Albany, where he became known as "The Reverend of Rock and Roll," before joining WXRT, Colgate Magazine reported.