Minnesota Rep. Jim Hagedorn has cancerous kidney removed

ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Republican Rep. Jim Hagedorn had a kidney removed Monday as he continues to fight advanced kidney cancer, according to a release from the congressman’s office.

The release said surgeons at Rochester’s Mayo Clinic also removed cancerous tissues surrounding the kidney. State Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan, the congressman’s wife, said in the statement that the performing surgeon called the procedure a success and Hagedorn was resting comfortably.

Hagedorn was diagnosed with stage four kidney cancer on Feb. 15, 2019, and since has received care and immunotherapy at Mayo Clinic. Hagedorn said in the release that the innovative treatments worked in degrading the cancer.

“Because my condition improved so dramatically these past months and my other kidney functions just fine, doctors decided it was time to go in and remove the kidney, and by doing so, extract an estimated 99 percent of the cancer in my body,” Hagedorn said.

Hagedorn earned a second term in November when he defeated Democrat Dan Feehan in a hard-fought rematch of their 2018 race in southern Minnesota.