Biden’s battle with skin cancer ends in victory

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden had a skin lesion removed from his chest in February that was a basal cell carcinoma – a common form of skin cancer – and no further treatment is needed, White House physician Kevin O'Connor said on Friday. 

All cancerous tissue was successfully removed, the White House physician said in a letter, adding that Biden will continue dermatologic surveillance as part of his ongoing healthcare but the site had healed.

Last month, doctors declared Biden, 80, healthy and “fit for duty” after a physical examination. They said at the time that a small lesion had been removed from his chest and sent for a biopsy.

O'Connor said in the letter that basal cell carcinoma lesions do not tend to spread or metastasize.

Biden's health is under close scrutiny as he prepares for an expected run for a second presidential term in 2024. His wife Jill Biden has said he plans to run, although a formal declaration of the president's intentions has yet to be made.

Whether Biden – already the oldest American president ever – should be the party's candidate is a source of debate among Democrats.

Biden's three-hour session with doctors in February at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, was his second extensive exam since taking office in January 2021.