Dodd Has Early Stage Prostate Cancer

5078652Updated 2:45 p.m. ET

Senator Christopher Dodd has been diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer and will undergo surgery early next month, but he says the diagnosis will not keep him from running to keep his seat in 2010.

"I'm running for reelection," the Connecticut Democrat told reporters in Hartford this afternoon, according to the Associated Press. "I'll be a little leaner, a little meaner, but I'm running.''

The AP reports that Dodd said he was diagnosed six weeks ago and that he is "very confident we're going to come out of this well."

"It's something that's very common among men my age,'' the 65-year-old earlier told the Hartford Courant. "In fact, one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point during their life.''

Dodd added that "I'm working some long and hard hours lately, and that will continue."

Because of the absence from the Senate of Edward Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, Dodd has been the central player in the Senate battle over health care reform. He is the ranking Democrat on the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

Dodd also chairs the Senate Banking Committee. He garnered bad press last year when reports surfaced that he had gotten preferential treatment from Countrywide Financial for home loans; the Senate ethics committee is looking into the deals. Dodd says he did not receive special treatment.

He also faced criticism for his role in allowing American International Group Inc. (AIG) to pay $165 million in bonuses to its employees following a request from the Treasury Department.

The senator and 2008 presidential candidate faces a potentially tough reelection campaign next year, with some polls showing him trailing Republican challenger Rob Simmons.

Dodd, who was first elected to the Senate in 1980, is the longest serving senator in Connecticut history.