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Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said Monday he will undergo surgery to have part of his colon removed after doctors found a malignant tumor on his appendix.
Shurtleff said the procedure should not interfere with his work.
"It's a little shocking, but we'll have it removed, I'll move on and I don't expect it to slow me down for more than a couple of weeks," he said.
The attorney general said in a videotaped statement that he was having some stomach problems and had an emergency appendectomy last week. Doctors found a tumor in his appendix and determined it was malignant.
He said doctors will biopsy the portion of the colon to make sure the cancer hasn't spread. At this point they believe it has been confined, but if it has spread they will decide what other treatments might be necessary.
"The good news is we got it really early. It was attacked. We kept it inside the appendix," he said. But, Shurtleff said, it is standard procedure to remove part of his colon to ensure it has not spread.
"I don't expect it to slow me down much," he said. "What's getting a little tiring is the number of these health issues, dealing mostly with my motorcycle accident and my leg."
Shurtleff shattered his leg in a motorcycle accident in 2007 and nearly lost his leg and has had several surgeries to try to save the limb.