LONDON, Feb 1 (AFP) - Ivan Noble, a BBC journalist who wrote a "tumor diary" on the Internet about his two-year battle with brain cancer, died shortly after his last entry was posted, the BBC reported on Tuesday.
The BBC said its online science and technology writer, 37, passed away on Monday, after his final, moving commentary appeared last week.
That entry was actually written late last year in anticipation his illness would force him to stop writing. "That time has now come," he conceded.
However, Noble, who was married with two young children, also wrote that his goal of fighting cancer and proving it was possible "not to be crushed by it" had succeeded.
Thousands of users of the BBC News website, for which he had worked since 2001, followed regular accounts of his cancer, which last year included a second period of remission, the BBC said.
In November, however, his tumor began to grow again and last month he was admitted to a London hospice.
Pete Clifton, editor of BBC News Interactive, said: "Ivan's column and his tremendous spirit have been an inspiration to all of us -- to his many readers around the world and to his colleagues at the BBC.
Noble started writing a column about his cancer not long after he was diagnosed in August 2002. There was a huge response from readers, some of which was published with each entry, the BBC said.
Many readers sent comments saying that his openness had helped them come to terms with their own cancer or that of relatives, and Noble established a close affinity with some of them, according to the broadcaster.
Noble appreciated the support of readers, saying: "It's incredible and humbling that people are interested in me -- and it does me an awful lot of good because it takes me out of myself and makes me think about the job that I do."
In his final column, Noble said the feedback people had given him had helped him survive as long as he had.
Every page that was published has been read by between 70,000-and-120,000 people, with the last entry attracting 300,000 hits on the first day alone, a BBC spokesperson said.
A fluent German speaker, Noble joined the BBC in the 1990s as a translator before moving to the Kenyan capital of Nairobi as a sub-editor. He switched to the corporation's online science team in 2001 as a journalist.
Once diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour, Noble shared his difficult struggle, the progression of the illness, his fears, disappointments and treatment with his audience.
But the battle also included high-points, hopes and -- during a period of remission -- marriage towards the end of 2002.
"I am very grateful that she decided to go ahead with the wedding," Noble wrote in his weekly column.
The wedding was followed by the birth of the couple's second child, a son, in July 2004.
"He seems a healthy and relatively contented little chap," said Noble.
Despite referring to his family, the BBC journalist was careful not to reveal their identities to protect their privacy.
A list of comments and responses from the public that are attached to the end of each diary entry give an indication of the impact Noble's writing had on thousands of people from across the world who are living with cancer.
"Ivan, how wonderful, that out of your despair and hopelessness, you have been able to give of yourself and your experiences through your diary to others and to inspire so many," said Helen from Canada, noting that her daughter, who is a mother of three, had the same sickness.
02/01/2005 15:43 GMT - AFP