PITTSBURGH -- Mayor Bob O'Connor was admitted to UPMC Shadyside hospital with a very rare form of cancer on Monday, doctors said.

O'Connor, 61, has been diagnosed with primary central nervous system lymphoma, according to a statement from his office. He was expected to begin chemotherapy Tuesday morning.

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Message Board: Post A Get-Well Note For O'Connor

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Doctors said they found two small tumors in O'Connor's brain, and two other possible tumors in the brain. They also found lymphoma cells in his spinal fluid.

"I don't think they are at risk for spreading elsewhere in the body," said Dr. Frank Lieberman. "We certainly anticipate he is going to live."

O'Connor's type of lymphoma is defined as a cancer that arises in the lymphoid tissue found in the central nervous system, according to cancer.gov, the Web site of the National Cancer Institute.

It is "an extremely rare" lymphoma, occurring roughly 800 times per year in the United States, Dr. Stanley Marks said.

Of those 800 cases, only about 50 of this specific type are reported each year, Marks said.

O'Connor is "fully functional" and should be able to continue as mayor, according to doctors.

O'Connor was first admitted to the hospital on Thursday, complaining of flu-like symptoms.

He went home on Saturday after being diagnosed with a non-cancerous duodenal ulcer and a viral infection, spokesman Dick Skrinjar said.

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