Q : I spent the past year being treated for prostate cancer and am now cancer free with a 90% chance of long-term remission. When job interviewers ask why I haven't worked this past year, how should I respond?

A: Hiring managers need to find and hire the best person for the job. If you're in remission with good long-term health prospects, smart interviewers won't nix you as a candidate because of your former illness, says Jim Pappas, manager of corporate staffing for the Barnes Group Inc., an international aerospace and industrial components manufacturer in Bristol, Conn.

What The Law Says

Under Title 1 of the American with Disabilities Act, your cancer can be considered a disability if you were unable to work during treatment and employers may not discriminate against you because of it. They also may not ask questions such as if you ever had cancer or follow up with specific questions if you tell them you were unemployed because of a medical condition. However, employers may ask if you are able to meet the requirements of an opening.

"Managers should be looking to find the best person they can," he says. "It should be treated as just a hiccup in your employment."

Nowadays, most men survive prostate cancer if it's detected in the early stage and nearly all of them live for at least five years more, according to the American Cancer Society. The median job tenure for U.S. males is five years, reports the Employee Benefit Research Institute. This means, statistically, that employers have little to worry about.

When talking about your cancer with interviewers, be sure your statement frames you as a winner who overcomes difficult challenges, says Ted Martin, chairman of Martin Partners L.L.C., an executive search firm in Chicago. Use words like succeed and conquer in your reply, says Mr. Martin, who says he would have "no trouble" recommending prostate-cancer survivors to employers.

"Spin your recovery as a positive, like Lance Armstrong did," he says. "Tell interviewers that you're among the fortunate people who beat cancer and weave the fact that you are a winner into the story of your career."

If you are uncomfortable disclosing your illness, you could offer a general answer regarding your absence, such as taking time off to deal with personal issues. However, this statement could raise more questions than it answers, plus it's often best to be honest with interviewers so you don't give the perception that you're hiding something.

A hiring manager who rejects you for health reasons clearly isn't aware of prostate cancer survival rates and is likely someone you don't want to work for anyway. In fact, when viewed statistically, hiring you may make more sense than employing someone who hasn't been diagnosed and consequently may not remain as healthy as you.

Mr. Pappas says he's interviewed about a half dozen people in recent years who have disclosed being treated for cancer. "It did not discourage me from hiring them because you want to get the best candidate," he says.

He adds that large companies would not reject candidates who have survived cancer because of health-insurance cost issues. Rates would not increase because health insurers have calculated the rate of illnesses such as cancer among all employees when determining premiums, he says.