In late March, viewers started noticing that Jennings's voice sounded uncharacteristically gravelly and unhealthy during evening newscasts. On April 1, 2005, he anchored "World News Tonight" for the last time; his failing health also prevented him from covering the death and funeral of Pope John Paul II. On April 5, 2005, Jennings informed viewers through a taped message on "World News Tonight" that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer, and was starting chemotherapy treatment the following week. "As some of you now know, I have learned in the last couple of days that I have lung cancer," he said. "Yes, I was a smoker until about 20 years ago, and I was weak and I smoked over &lt;a href="9/11"&gt;9/11&lt;/a&gt;. But whatever the reason, the news does slow you down a bit." Although he stated his intention to continue anchoring whenever possible, the message was to be his last appearance on television.