Dodd Has Prostate Cancer

Senator Chris Dodd has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, the Hartford Courant reports, but the disease is in its early stages, and Dodd doesn’t think it will sideline him long. He’ll undergo surgery during the August recess, and expects to return after a “brief recuperation,” the 65-year-old said. “It’s something that’s very common among men my age.”

Dodd has been one of the central figures in the health care debate, running the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in Edward Kennedy’s absence. He says the cancer won’t affect his 2010 reelection bid. “As you have probably noticed, I’m working some long and hard hours lately,” he said. “And that will continue.” (More Chris Dodd stories.)