The President of the United States, Joe Biden, underwent surgery last month for a skin lesion on his chest, which after being examined turned out to be a common type of skin cancerreported this Friday the White House doctor, who indicated that the head of state does not require any additional treatment.
Biden, 80 years old and the oldest president in the history of the United States, has been analyzing for months whether or not to run for re-election in 2024 to be able to govern another 4 years. The news could have an impact on your decision and even in the campaign, since the opposition usually criticizes the state of physical and mental health of the president.
Presidential physician Kevin O’Connor wrote in a letter to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, explaining that the lesion was removed in an operation on February 16 and then biopsied. “As expected,” the lesion tested positive for basal cell carcinoma.s, wrote O’Connor.
“All the cancerous tissue was successfully removed,” he added later, saying that the area where the cancerous lesion was removed had “healed very well.”
Biden will continue “dermatological surveillance” in the future, he added, noting that “no further treatment was required.”
The letter also explained that “basal cell carcinoma lesions do not tend to ‘spread’ or metastasize, as some more serious skin cancers, such as melanoma or squamous cell carcinoma, are known to do.”
The lesion was initially removed during Biden’s annual physical in February. At the time, O’Connor reported that the president remains “healthy” and “vigorous” and “fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency”.
Examinations of the president’s head, ears, eyes, nose, and throat were normal. An “extremely detailed” neurological examination found no findings consistent with stroke, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease.
However, Biden is still experiencing a “stiff gait”, according to the report, the product of a broken foot in 2020 and was prescribed custom orthotics to help with his feet. He continues to exercise five days a week and his contact lens prescription has been updated.
Biden’s wife, Jill, had undergone surgery earlier this year to remove lesions similar to her husband’s near her right eye. The procedure confirmed that “the small lesion was basal cell carcinoma,” O’Connor wrote at the time. “All cancerous tissue was successfully removed, and the margins were free of any residual skin cancer cells.”
Basal cell carcinoma of the skin is one of the most common cancers in the United States, and treatment can be highly effective when the cancer is found early and removed.
Like the other skin cancer, melanoma, these diseases are closely related to sun exposure and sunburn. Fair-skinned people and people who have freckles and/or red hair are especially at risk.
Biden’s health is under heavy scrutiny because of his age and the possibility of him running for the White House again. With no strong Democratic candidates in sight, Biden appears to be the best in the polls, even though many Americans, even Democrats, should not run because of his advanced age.
From the Republican opposition front, references to the confusions in his speeches abound (Biden has been a stutterer since his youth and sometimes he still stumbles over words), his distractions or the falls he has suffered on a bicycle or on the stairs of the plane. Even a candidate, Nicky Haley, proposed that no one over 75 years of age could be a civil servant.
Biden does not stop doing anything different from any of his predecessors: he has a packed schedule, he travels all over the country and also around the world. However, the challenge of the next campaign can be much tougher than the one of the previous one, in the midst of the pandemic and when he barely had to leave the basement of his house.