As his state becomes the central battleground in the race for the White House, Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has a larger battle to fight, his office announced yesterday. In a statement, Specter's staff said he had been diagnosed with an early recurrence of Hodgkin's disease, a form of cancer the five-term incumbent who first beat the disease after being diagnosed in 2005.

A routine follow-up scan and biopsy showed cancer had returned to Specter's chest, but a biopsy on his bone marrow was negative, a positive sign that the disease has not spread. Specter will undergo chemotherapy for twelve weeks and will continue to perform his official duties, his office reports.

Meanwhile, Specter's doctor at the University of Pennsylvania says the one-time survivor has a good chance of doing so again. "Senator Specter has an excellent chance of again achieving a complete remission of his Hodgkin's disease. Senator Specter's early diagnosis of his recurrent Hodgkin's disease has a five- year survival rate of 60 percent," Penn oncologist John Glick said in the statement.

Unlike some of his colleagues, Specter is in great shape for his age, especially given his penchant for frequent games of squash. The former chairman, he now serves as ranking minority member of the Judiciary Committee, and holds positions as the second-ranking Republican on the Veterans' Affairs Committee and as the third-ranking Republican on the Appropriations Committee, behind Senators Ted Stevens and Thad Cochran.

Given his history of voting more with Democrats than his Republican colleagues do, it's little wonder that Specter has often found himself the target of difficult battles for re-election. After losing several primary battles in Pennsylvania, Specter escaped the 1980 GOP primary by just three points and won his initial election with only 50%. Since then, Specter has won re-election with more than 60% jut once, in 1998, and six years later came within 17,000 votes of losing in a primary to then-Rep. Pat Toomey, a conservative who now runs the Club for Growth.

At 78 years old, Specter has said he plans to run again in 2010. Democrats have been on a winning streak in Pennsylvania lately, picking off Specter's fellow Republican Senator Rick Santorum in 2006 and winning four House seats from Republican incumbents, as well as control of the state House, though by just one vote. But Specter has his niche, and barring a run from Governor Ed Rendell, who will be term-limited out of work in 2010, he should be relatively safe. That prospect, though Democrats would love it, looks unlikely.

Through the end of 2007, Specter had more than $4.1 million in the bank, and regardless of who comes after him, Specter has a good chance of winning re-election if he does indeed decide on running for a sixth term.