Update: Gov. Dayton announces he has prostate cancer, intends to complete his second term

Update 12:50 p.m.: Gov. Dayton reveals he has prostate cancer; diagnosed on Friday

ST. PAUL -- Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton has prostate cancer, he said at mid-day Tuesday, Jan. 24, before heading to a Mayo Clinic appointment after fainting during his State of the State speech Monday night.

Dayton stunned reporters with the cancer announcement after unveiling his budget proposal for the next two years. He said that he does not think the cancer and fainting spell are related.

Mayo Clinic doctors diagnosed him with cancer on Friday. He said he planned to tell the public about it next week, after he learns how it could be treated. However, after Monday night's fainting episode, his staff encouraged him to tell people today.

Prostate cancer is known as one of the least likely to be deadly, and in some cases it needs no treatment. But Dayton said that is awaiting his appointment next week to learn more.

The governor said that that John Kerry had prostate cancer, but as secretary of state he flew around the world, so he hopes it will not affect him.

Dayton's health become the prime issue of his State of the State speech Monday night when he collapsed after talking 45 minutes, just before he was to talk about health care funding.

  Today, he said that he did not recall hitting his head on the podium, but thought he was unconscious just a few seconds.

His Mayo Clinic doctor saw tweets about the fainting spell Monday night and called him, Dayton said. With medics still at his home, the doctor said it would be best for him to spend the night in his own bed and then go to an appointment today.

Before leaving for the clinic in Rochester, Minn., he announced a $45 billion two-year budget proposal.

Dayton said that his health issues should not affect his ability to serve out the final two years of his term.

Update 12:30 p.m.: Gov. Dayton announces he has prostate cancer, intends to complete his second term

ST. PAUL -- Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, who fainted Monday night during his State of the State speech, revealed Tuesday, Jan. 24, that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The Democratic governor said he will be travel to Rochester’s Mayo Clinic for assessment after his collapse Tuesday afternoon and be, separately, treated there for the prostate cancer in the coming weeks.

Asked if he is up for the job of governor, the 69-year-old governor said: “I think I am.”

“I don’t expect it to…impede my responsibilities,” he said. He said the diagnosis was “grim but it is what it is.”

He spent time joking Tuesday afternoon, including noting that his brain is not in his prostrate or his hip, on which he recently had surgery.

Dayton, Minnesota’s oldest governor, will turn 70 on Thursday. He said his doctors tell him the cancer has not spread.

He said he was planning to reveal the cancer diagnosis to the public after he knew the course of treatment but, after his faint on Monday, he decided to make the news public.

“I think I gave up my medical privacy about six years ago. As I should,” he said.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press is a media partner with Forum News Service

Update 12: 30 p.m.: Gov. Dayton says he has prostate cancer, plans to complete his second term

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton today revealed he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Dayton told reporters at a Capitol press conference that he found out last Friday that a biopsy had confirmed a more simple test.

Dayton, who turns 70 on Thursday, said he didn’t believe the cancer was related to his collapse Monday night on the floor of the Minnesota House as he was giving his State of the State speech.

The governor said he will return to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester today for additional tests.

Dayton told reporters that he expects to finish the final two years of his four-year term. He noted his father had prostate surgery 25 years before his death.

Check back for updates on this story.