Author of ‘tumor diary’ on BBC dies at 37

LONDON – Ivan Noble, a British Broadcasting Corp. journalist who chronicled his battle with brain cancer in an online diary, has died, the BBC said Tuesday. He was 37.

The news organization said Noble, its online science and technology correspondent, died Monday.

Noble had written a “tumor diary” for the BBC News Web site since shortly after he was diagnosed with cancer in 2002.

The column, which drew responses from hundreds of readers around the world, tracked his experience of three brain operations, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Noble experienced two periods of remission, but the tumor returned late last year, and he was admitted to a London hospice last month.

Noble said he had begun the diary because “I had a strong urge to fight back against what felt like the powerlessness of the situation. I really wanted to try to make something good out of bad.”

Noble said feedback from readers “has kept me going much longer than I would have without it, and I am grateful.”

Noble is survived by his wife and two young children.