U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop says he has begun chemotherapy after being diagnosed with throat cancer.

Bishop, a Democrat from Columbus, said in a statement Friday that he doesn't expect to be away from his congressional duties for more than a brief period.

Bishop says he discovered a small lump on his neck during the summer. After tests, doctors determined it was a tumor that will be surgically removed after a course of chemotherapy designed to shrink it.

Bishop says the cancer is limited to his neck and that doctors at George Washington University Hospital are "optimistic that this tumor will be cured."

Tags: Congressman Sanford Bishop, chemotherapy, throat cancer