UPDATE: Yauch has released a statement contradicting the BBC's report. He says, "While I'm grateful for all the positive energy people are sending my way, reports of my being totally cancer free are exaggerated. I'm continuing treatment, staying optimistic and hoping to be cancer free in the near future."

Back in 2009, as the Beastie Boys were gearing up to release their album Hot Sauce Committee Part 1, member Adam Yauch, aka MCA, was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in a parotid (salivary) gland. The group canceled their plans, and Yauch threw himself into the recovery process. But now the BBC reports that fellow Beastie Michael Diamond, better known as Mike D, revealed in an interview with BBC radio host Zane Lowe that Yauch is now cancer-free. The Beasties now plan to move full steam ahead with their new album.

Talking to Lowe, Diamond said that Yauch has the all-clear to return to the business of being a punk-rap legend: "We're really happy about it." So are we! And on Wednesday, Adam Horovitz, aka the King Ad-Rock, posted a message on the Beasties' site that "2011 is gonna be stress free."

Late last year, the group announced plans to release Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 this spring, via Capitol. Part 2 has a tracklist that looks a whole lot like what the group had announced for Part 1, but Diamond says that the two albums are different, implying that Part 1 might still see release at some point: "It's still delayed-- the first one. The second one is coming out as originally scheduled." Confusing! Diamond also says that the group is "open" to the idea of touring again, depending on Yauch's health.

Diamond also told Lowe that there's a big Beastie Boys video in the works: "We've got a video we got to finish, a big video. I know people don't make big videos any more, but we made a big video. It's not even a video; it's a film-eo-- a cinematic short film." It seems pretty likely that he's talking about "Fight For Your Right Revisited", Yauch's sequel to the group's classic video for "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)". "Fight for Your Right Revisited" stars Seth Rogen, Elijah Wood, Will Ferrell, Danny McBride, and a bunch of other movie stars, and it's set to debut in this year's Sundance Film Festival's Short Film Program.