Lloyd Webber has cancer

British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, the BBC reported yesterday. The broadcaster quoted a statement from the 61-year-old's spokesman as saying the condition had been caught in its very early stages.

"Andrew is now undergoing treatment and expects to be fully back at work before the end of the year," the spokesman said.

Mr Lloyd Webber, behind hit musicals including Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats and Starlight Express, recently announced he was staging a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. Love Never Dies is due to open in London in March 2010.

He is also set to judge a BBC television talent show next year.