Best wishes for a full recovery to Sen. Lautenberg:

New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D) has cancer and will begin receiving chemotherapy to treat it, his office announced Friday.

"After several days of hospitalization and testing, Senator Lautenberg's doctors have diagnosed that he has a B-Cell Lymphoma of the stomach," his office said in a statement. "This is a curable tumor, and will require treatment over the next few months."

Lautenberg's treatment means he will not be on hand Monday for a key procedural vote on the Senate, on Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) $15 billion jobs bill, Lautenberg's office confirmed.

B-cell lymphoma is more commonly known as non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer that starts in the body's lymphatic system, according to the American Cancer Society.

[...] Lautenberg was hospitalized Monday after falling in his Cliffside Park, N.J., home, and underwent surgery Tuesday for what was thought then to be a bleeding ulcer. At 86, Lautenberg is the second-oldest senator currently serving, behind only Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.).