Amsterdam’s mayor Eberhard van der Laan has written an open letter to the capital’s population to tell them he has been diagnosed with lung cancer.

Van der Laan, 61, says in the letter that the cancer has spread and that there is ‘little reason for optimism’.

‘I will continue to do my job… in a way which is right. I wish to remain your mayor for a little longer,’ he said. ‘In the meantime, I am in the good hands of my loved ones and the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital.’ The AVL is Amsterdam’s specialist cancer hospital.

In 2013, Van der Laan, a smoker, was treated for prostate cancer. Last year, Van der Laan was renamed for a second, six-year term as Amsterdam mayor.