OTTAWA - Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield will step out of cabinet to fight a form of cancer, Hodgkin lymphona, the Fredericton MP told his constituents Friday.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is widely expected to complete a mid-term shuffle of his cabinet early next month and, when that happens, Ashfield has asked that he be left out of cabinet.

It is the second time Ashfield, 61, has had to leave cabinet for health reasons. Last year, he suffered a heart attack and spent several weeks away from cabinet recovering.

Ashfield said he will continue his current duties as Fisheries Minister until Harper names a replacement but then will focus on beating his cancer.

"We were fortunate to have caught this in the very early stages and, with treatment, there is a high rate of successful recovery," Ashfield said in a statement. "My prognosis at this time is excellent. My treatment has begun and will continue through the summer."

Ashfield, who moved from provincial politics to federal politics in the 2008 general election, was named Minister of State for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and then, in 2010 became a full minister and the regional political minister for the province.

"I am comfortable and confident that I can fully carry out my duties as a cabinet minister in the immediate term, but have asked the prime minister to excuse me from cabinet at the next cabinet shuffle so I may focus on a full recovery. This will allow me to spend more time with my family and focus my energy fully on my riding and serving the people who elected me," Ashfield said.

"Laureen and I are saddened to hear about Minister Ashfield's news and wish him well in his recovery," Harper said on Twitter. "As always, the Conservative Party of Canada family is behind you."

Ashfield, who does not speak French, is one of two cabinet ministers from the bilingual province of New Brunswick. The other is bilingual Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt.

If Harper wishes to continue to have two ministers from New Brunswick he's likely to replace Ashfield with Rob Moore, another unilingual MP, from the riding of Fundy Royal.

Moore had been Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism prior to the 2011 general election but was dropped to make way for Valcourt.