Senator Angus King announced this week that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He's scheduled to have surgery this Friday to remove the cancer and is expected to make a full recovery.

King revealed in a press release that this is not his first brush with the disease. 40 years ago the former Governor of the State of Maine was diagnosed with an aggressive form of skin cancer. A doctor caught it early and was able to treat it successfully.

In both cases, the disease was caught during routine exams. And, like the first brush with skin cancer, King says doctors caught his prostate cancer early. He's expected to make a full recovery and says he'll be back on the Senate floor before you know it.

"Let's face it," King said in the release, "cancer is a scary word to hear. So it might seem unusual to say this, but today, I actually feel pretty fortunate." He talks about people with more aggressive cancers than his, who face the disease in the face of great financial hardship or without the support of family and friends.

"In my case, the doctors found my cancer early," King said. "We have a plan to treat it, and plan for a full recovery."

The American Cancer Society says 1 in every 7 men will have a prostate cancer diagnosis in their lifetime. Most cancers are slow-growing and, with early detection, they can be eradicated with surgery or radiation. In most cases, the surgery has minimal side effects.

More From WDEA Ellsworth Maine