Authors: Kelly Knaub
United States Senate(NEW YORK) -- Arlen Specter, the former senator from Pennsylvania who stunned both parties on Capitol Hill in 2009 when he announced he would switch his party allegiance to Democrat after 42 years as a Republican, has died. He was 82.
Specter died at his Philadelphia home from complications of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Specter's battle with cancer has been long. In addition to the removal of a brain tumor, he was diagnosed and underwent chemotherapy for Hodgkin's disease in 2005, only to undergo treatment again when it resurfaced in 2008.
He published a book, "Never Give In: Battling Cancer in the Senate," about dealing with the disease after his initial diagnosis.
In August, Specter announced he was "battling cancer" again -- this time with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Last month, he was released from a Philadelphia hospital.
He is survived by his wife, Joan, and two sons, Shanin and Stephen.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
