WASHINGTON, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Republican U.S. presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, who had prostate cancer in 2000 and was hospitalized last week for a severe headache, said on Monday he does not have cancer.

"I'm perfectly healthy. I don't have cancer," the former New York mayor told U.S. media during a Christmas Eve visit to a shelter in New York's Harlem neighborhood.

Giuliani's battle with prostate cancer prompted him to drop out of the 2000 Senate campaign in New York against Hillary Clinton, a Democratic rival in the 2008 presidential race.

Giuliani was admitted to a Missouri hospital on Wednesday for what his campaign said was flu-like symptoms. He was released on Thursday.

Giuliani said he had a severe headache and promised a full report from his physician as early as this week, NBC reported.

Giuliani, who plays heavily on his leadership in New York after the Sept. 11 attacks, has seen his lead in national polls of Republican voters erode in recent weeks.

Iowa holds on Jan. 3 the first of the state-by-state battles to choose the Democratic and Republican candidates who will contest the presidential election in November 2008.

(Reporting by JoAnne Allen; Editing by Eric Beech)

AlertNet news is provided by