Guesting on The Classic Metal Show, Megadeth bassist David Ellefson answered questions regarding the shocking news that frontman Dave Mustaine has been diagnosed with throat cancer. Following is an excerpt from the chat, which can be heard below.

Ellefson: "We're optimistic about the treatments. Other cases have shown that it's… throat cancer is treatable. It's at a place where it's certainly, I don't think, beyond a point of repair. So I think it's good, and that's why I think shutting down right now, at least the touring side of it, is good, because I think if we tried to continue to go out and force Dave to sing and perform, yeah, that may not have such a good outcome. And it's funny, I think about it when I broke my foot a couple of years ago... this was three years ago now. The 'Dystopia' tour was just rolling, man, and we were just right in the middle of it, and I freaking break my foot backstage. And I was going, 'Dave, I'll play the next three shows.' And he was, 'No. You're going home. We're going home right now.' He goes, 'If that doesn't heal right now, you can have lifelong problems. So we've gotta shut down and you've gotta go home.' And we did. And I know some fans, obviously, were upset and disappointed, as you would expect. I would be too, if I was a fan in the audience. But it was real, and we had to do it. So I was thinking about that same thing today with Dave, that the best thing we can do for him, certainly as a singer and as a member of our group, but also as a human, let's just shut down. Let's take the pressure off of him. And fortunately, the studio, the house that we have is right next door to Dave's property in Franklin (TN); literally, he can drive his little ATV over there; it's that close. So it's easy enough to be able to check in on stuff. And the days when Dave's feeling good, great. If there's days he's not, hey, no worries. The good Lord has set up a pretty workable scenario that it's not like we're in some situation where we're way behind the eightball on an album or way in debt."

Following is Mustaine's official announcement regarding his cancer treatment.