Doctors removed a skin lesion on President Joe Biden's chest last month and diagnosed it as basal cell carcinoma (a common form of skin cancer), the White House physician reported Friday. Kevin O'Connor, who indicated that he will not require additional treatments.
"All cancerous tissue was successfully removed"
in the president's routine physical exam on February 16, O'Connor explained, adding that the lesion has "healed well" and Biden will continue regular skin exams within his routine health plan.
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Basal cells are one of the most common types of cancer and easy to treat, especially when detected early.
According to O'Connor, they don't tend to spread like other types of cancer, but they can get bigger, which is why they're removed.
Biden had "several localized non-melanoma skin cancers" removed before his presidency began, O'Connor said in his Feb. 16 summary of the president's health, noting it was well established that Biden spent a lot of time in the sun for his youth.