Skin lesion removed last month from US President Joe Biden’s chest was basal cell carcinoma – a common form of skin cancer – his doctor said on Friday, adding that no further treatment was needed. White House doctor Kevin O’Connor, who has served as Biden’s longtime physician, said that “all cancerous tissue was successfully removed” during the president’s routine physical activity on February 16.
Biden, 80, was deemed “healthy, vigorous” and “fit” by O’Connor to handle White House responsibilities during that physical, which is weeks away from launching an expected bid for reelection in 2024.
O’Connor said the removal site on Biden’s chest has “healed well” and that the president will continue to have regular skin checks as part of his ongoing health plan.
Basal cells are among the most common and easily treated forms of cancer – especially when caught early. O’Connor said they don’t spread like other cancers, but can increase in size, which is why they’re removed.
Biden had “multiple localized non-melanoma skin cancers” removed from his body before beginning his presidency, O’Connor said in a February 16 summary of the president’s health, noting that he was doing well. It is established that Biden spent a lot of time in the sun during his youth.
In January, first lady Jill Biden had two basal cell lesions removed from her right eye and chest. She said in an Associated Press interview last week that she’s now “extra careful” about sunscreen, especially when she’s at the beach.
Basal cell carcinoma is a slow-growing cancer that’s usually confined to the surface of the skin — doctors can almost always remove it with a shallow incision — and rarely causes serious complications or is life-threatening.
Biden has long been an advocate of fighting cancer.