PORTLAND (AP) – Congressman Tom Allen says his campaign for the U.S. Senate will continue despite his wife’s diagnosis with breast cancer.

Allen said Friday that his wife, Diana, has been found to have a small malignancy that is believed to be in its early stages. He said they will know more following additional tests and surgery, and that they are optimistic she will fully recover.

Allen said he and his family will fight the cancer privately, but wanted to share the diagnosis publicly and stress the importance of breast exams and mammograms in the prevention and early detection of breast cancer.

Allen, a six-term Democrat representing Maine’s 1st District, is running for the Senate against Republican incumbent Susan Collins.