Joe Paterno stands on the sidelines before a Penn State game earlier this season against Northwestern. Paterno has a treatable form of lung cancer. His son, Scott, said the 84-year-old is undergoing treatment and that his doctors are optimistic he will make a full recovery.

STATE COLLEGE — Joe Paterno was diagnosed with a treatable form of lung cancer the same weekend Penn State’s football team played its first game without the Hall of Fame coach in nearly a half century.

His son, Scott Paterno, said Friday in a statement to The Associated Press that his father’s doctors are optimistic the 84-year-old Paterno will make a full recovery.

The news came shortly after Penn State said the NCAA would look into the school’s handling of a child sex abuse scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Paterno was fired by the board of trustees Nov. 9 for failing to do more than report to his superiors an abuse allegation against Sandusky.

“Last weekend, my father was diagnosed with a treatable form of lung cancer during a follow-up visit for a bronchial illness,” Scott Paterno said in the brief statement. The medical exam came the same weekend the school played its first game since the 1960s without Paterno leading the Nittany Lions — a 17-14 loss to Nebraska.

“As everyone can appreciate, this is a deeply personal matter for my parents, and we simply ask that his privacy be respected as he proceeds with treatment,” Scott Paterno said.

Earlier Friday, The Citizens Voice of Wilkes-Barre reported that Paterno had been seen Wednesday visiting the Mount Nittany Medical Center and was treated for an undisclosed ailment and released.

Sandusky is charged with sexually abusing eight boys over 15 years — charges he denies.

Paterno initially announced his retirement effective at the end of the season, saying that the scandal was “one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.” The trustees fired him anyway, about 12 hours later.

Longtime defensive coordinator Tom Bradley replaced Paterno on an interim basis. He broke the news about Paterno’s cancer to the Nittany Lions after the team arrived in Columbus, Ohio, for Saturday’s game against Ohio State.

“I told them sometimes words pale at a time like this. I felt they should hear it from us, exactly what it was, that we were told that it was a treatable lung cancer,” Bradley said. “It’s just one of those things. It’s a tough time for the players.”