Gov. Mark Dayton, who revealed to Minnesotans last week that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, visited Mayo Clinic this week and is mulling treatment options.
“The tests found no signs that his prostate cancer had spread beyond the prostate,” said Linden Zakula, a Dayton spokesman. Dayton is considering either surgery or radiation and expects to make a decision in a few days, at which time he will inform Minnesotans, Zakula added.
Mayo Clinic also released a statement, calling the cancer “localized, treatable and curable.” Mayo also said Dayton “should be able to carry on his duties serving the citizens of Minnesota without significant interruption.”
Dayton’s revelation of prostate cancer capped a dramatic couple of days last week, when he collapsed after slurring some words toward the end of his State-of-the-State address at the Minnesota Capitol.
His collapse was due to dehydration and not related to the prostate cancer.
If prostate cancer has not spread to other organs, the five-year survival rate is nearly 100 percent, according to the American Cancer Society.
Dayton has suffered numerous health problems in recent years, including two spinal surgeries and an earlier public collapse, also blamed on dehydration.
Now in the final two years of his second term, Dayton has a busy legislative agenda this year.
In the face of a Legislature now completely controlled by Republicans, Dayton has proposed a $45 billion two-year budget that would increase funding for education and health and human services.
Dayton also is working with legislators on fixing the individual health insurance market, where rates have skyrocketed in recent years.
And, as in the past two years, Dayton hopes for a major transportation package of roads, bridges and transit.
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