The wife of losing Democratic US Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards will undergo more tests to determine how far her breast cancer has advanced and ways to treat it.

Elizabeth Edwards was diagnosed with invasive ductal cancer, the most common type of breast cancer, during the last week of the gruelling campaign.

“Elizabeth is as strong a person as I’ve ever known,” Edwards said. “Together, our family will beat this.”

Mrs Edwards, 55, discovered a lump in her right breast while on a campaign trip last week, spokesman David Ginsberg said. Her family doctor told her it appeared to be cancerous and advised her to see a specialist when she could.

She put off the appointment so as not to miss time campaigning for her husband.

The Edwards family went to Massachusetts General Hospital from Boston’s Faneuil Hall after presidential candidate John Kerry conceded the election on Wednesday. A needle biopsy confirmed the cancer, Ginsberg said.

“Everybody feels good about it, that this is beatable,” Ginsberg said.

The Edwards’ married in 1977. They have two daughters, Cate and Emma Claire, and a son, Jack. Son Wade died in a 1996 traffic accident.

On the campaign, Mrs. Edwards dubbed herself the “anti-Barbie” and earned a reputation as a quick-witted, down-to-earth political wife who connected particularly well with mothers and fathers.