WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden had a skin lesion removed from his chest in February that turned out to be basal cell carcinoma – a common form of skin cancer – and does not require further treatment, White House physician Kevin O’Connor said Friday.
All cancerous tissue was successfully removed, the White House physician said in a letter, adding that Biden would continue dermatologic monitoring as part of his ongoing health care but that the area had healed.
Doctors last month declared Biden, 80, healthy and “fit for duty” after a physical examination. A small lesion was removed from her chest and sent for a biopsy, they said at the time.
Basal cell carcinoma lesions do not spread or metastasize, O’Connor said in the letter.
Biden’s health is being closely monitored as he prepares for an expected second presidential term in 2024. His wife, Jill Biden, has said she plans to run, although the president’s intentions have yet to be officially announced.
Whether Biden — already the longest-serving U.S. president — should be the party’s nominee is a source of debate among Democrats.
Biden’s three-hour session with doctors in February at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, was his second extensive examination since taking office in January 2021.
