Sen. Wyden Has Prostate Cancer, May Miss Votes

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden has been diagnosed with early-state prostate cancer and will undergo surgery next week. The long-term prognosis is good for the 61-year-old from Oregon, but he will miss votes tomorrow and next week, potentially complicating Democratic efforts to gather 60 votes to pass measures including the START treaty and Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal, the Huffington Post reports.

Wyden says the cancer was caught during his annual physical in late November and he scheduled surgery "for the Monday before Christmas anticipating that the Senate would have recessed by that time," and he expects to be back to work full-time when the Senate reconvenes in January. "If anything is taken away from my experience, I hope it is the importance of getting routine physicals," he says.

(More Ron Wyden stories.)