JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon starting treatment for throat cancer

Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, told employees and shareholders in a memo that he's beginning treatment for throat cancer and will continue to run the company "as normal."

"The good news is that the prognosis from my doctors is excellent, the cancer was caught quickly and my condition is curable," Dimon said, according to a statement Tuesday from the company. "The cancer is confined to the original site and the adjacent lymph nodes on the right side of my neck. Importantly, there is no evidence of cancer elsewhere in my body."

Dimon, 58, has led New York-based JPMorgan since the end of 2005, making him the longest-tenured CEO among the six largest U.S. banks. He steered the lender through a recent financial crisis without posting a quarterly loss and acquired Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual's banking operations as those firms collapsed.

Dimon will soon begin radiation and chemotherapy treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital in Manhattan, he said in the statement. The treatment should take about eight weeks, he said.

"While the treatment will curtail my travel during this period, I have been advised that I will be able to continue to be actively involved in our business, and we will continue to run the company as normal," he wrote. "Our board has been fully briefed and is totally supportive."

In midmorning trading Wednesday, the stock was off 59 cents, about 1 percent, to $56.98.

About 27,000 cases of throat cancer are diagnosed annually with an estimated 6,100 deaths attributed to the disease each year in the U.S., according to the National Cancer Institute.

Throat cancer includes tumors discovered in a variety of areas including the larynx, the part of the throat between the base of the tongue and the trachea, and the nasopharynx, the upper part of the throat behind the nose. Prognosis depends on factors including the location and size of the tumor and the age and general health of the patient.

Treatment options include surgery to remove the tumor, radiation and chemotherapy, which is drugs that stop the cancer's growth or kill the tumor cells, according to the cancer institute.

Since Dimon became CEO, JPMorgan has emerged as the largest U.S. bank with a stock that's climbed 45 percent during his tenure. After sailing through the 2008 financial crisis, he overcame street protests, congressional hearings on the bank's derivatives bets and an investor campaign to split his dual roles as CEO and chairman.

The bank posted its first quarterly loss under his leadership last year as it agreed to pay $23 billion in penalties and settlements in 2013. Full-year net income fell 16 percent to $17.9 billion, while analysts estimate the firm to rebound to $21 billion of earnings this year.