Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro recovering after surgery to remove tumors

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.) is recovering after undergoing surgery to remove tumors in his gastrointestinal tract.

“Today, I successfully underwent surgery to remove gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors,” Castro said in a statement Monday. “Last summer, doctors discovered these small, slow-growing, and mostly asymptomatic tumors following a series of tests.”

After the surgery, Castro, 48, wrote on Twitter that his “prognosis is good” and he will be at home recovering “for several weeks” before returning to Washington.

Castro represents Texas’s 20th Congressional District, which includes part of San Antonio. He serves on the House Intelligence Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Education and Labor panel.

In a statement, the congressman thanked family, friends and the staff at the MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, where he was treated.

Gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors, which are located in the lining of the gastrointestinal tract, are a type of cancer that are “rare and most grow very slowly,” according to the National Cancer Institute.

Castro and his twin brother, Julián, who served as the U.S. secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Obama administration, have been at the forefront in the Democratic Party over the past decade. Julián ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. Joaquin, who was first elected to Congress in 2012, considered challenging Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2018, but did not enter the race.