Wichita ? Sen. Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican whose own cancer is in remission, won’t seek a leadership post if re-elected because her son’s leukemia has recurred.

Paul Wagle, 13, will begin treatment next month in Fort Worth, Texas. Wagle said doctors told her he needed weeks of blood, stem cell and chemotherapy treatment and had a 50 percent chance of survival.

Wagle said Wednesday she considered dropping out of her race for re-election after doctor’s diagnosed her son’s relapse in September. But she was told it was too late to have her name removed from the ballot.

If she does win another term, Wagle said, she might miss some of next year’s session while tending to her son. She was considered a potential candidate for Senate president.

Wagle said her son was holding up well.

“Kids aren’t quite like adults, in that many of them live day to day rather than worry too much about the future,” she said. “Paul’s living day to day.”

Wagle was first diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1996, while she was a member of the House. In early 2001 she told colleagues the cancer had returned. She missed part of that year’s session, returning after the cancer went into remission.

“I admire the courage of Sen. Wagle and her family,” said David Clark, her Democratic opponent.