Minnesota governor evaluating cancer treatment options: staff

(Reuters) – Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton is evaluating treatment options for cancer and he will be able to continue his work without significant interruption, officials said Thursday.

Dayton, 70, said late last month he has prostate cancer. A day before the announcement, Dayton collapsed while delivering his state-of-the-state address in St. Paul, but later said he did not think the fainting episode was related to his cancer.

Dayton is considering surgery or radiation, Linden Zakula, Dayton’s deputy chief of staff, said in a statement. He expects to make a decision on treatment in the next several days. The cancer has not spread to other areas, Zakula said.

“Governor Mark Dayton’s prostate cancer was caught early and is localized, treatable and curable,” Karl Oestreich, a spokesman for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said.

“His Mayo Clinic physicians have discussed several treatment options with the Governor and he is in the process of making his decision. The Governor should be able to carry on his duties … without significant interruption.”

Dayton, a Democrat, served six years as a U.S. senator from Minnesota before he was elected to his first term as governor in 2010. His current term runs until early 2018.

(Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Editing by James Dalgleish)