Washington, D.C. ? Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter’s cancer has returned.

The five-term Republican said in a statement released by his office Tuesday that he was diagnosed with an early recurrence of Hodgkin’s disease, which is a cancer of the lymph system.

Specter, 78, underwent treatment for the same type of cancer in 2005 and was later given a clean bill of health. The statement said that the cancer was revealed in a medical scan but that he has no symptoms.

“I was surprised by the PET scan findings because I have been feeling so good,” Specter said in the statement. “I consider this just another bump on the road to a successful recovery from Hodgkin’s, from which I’ve been symptom-free for three years.”

Specter’s oncologist, John H. Glick of the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, said in the statement released by the senator’s office that Specter has an excellent chance of fighting the disease. The early diagnosis of his recurrent Hodgkin’s disease has a five-year survival rate of 60 percent, the doctor said.