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The former Tennessee senator, 64, said that his life expectancy "should not be affected" and described the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma as "indolent," meaning it responds well to treatment.
Thompson said the cancer was discovered during a physical in 2004 and that if it returned, "it is very treatable with drugs ... and with no debilitating side effects."
Thompson is said to be considering a Republican bid for the presidency in 2008, though it is not clear how his announcement would impact his future political plans.
In March, he talked about his presidential aspirations with Fox News, explaining, "I'm just going to wait and see what happens. I wanted to see how my colleagues who are on the campaign trail do now, what they say, what they emphasize, what they're addressing, and how successful they are in doing that, and whether or not they can carry the ball in next November."
As a politician, Thompson has a long history in Washington, D.C., dating back to his time as minority counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee. And when Al Gore was elected vice president in 1994, Thompson was elected as the senator from Tennessee. He was re-elected in 1996, though he left the Senate after his term.
Intermittently, Thompson has earned roles as a character actor, and he has focused on his acting career since leaving the Senate. His first appeared in films in the '80s – acting in the Naval thriller No Way Out and 1990's The Hunt for the Red October, among other projects. Most recently, he has appeared as Arthur Branch on television's Law & Order.
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