WASHINGTON — It has been confirmed by his spokesperson to NBC News on Thursday that former President Joe Biden recently had surgery for the removal of cancerous cells from his skin.
Biden’s personal office reported that he is recovering well following Mohs surgery, a procedure typically employed to address the most prevalent forms of skin cancer. This surgery involves excising layers of cancerous skin tissue until no cancerous cells are detected.
The exact timing of Biden’s surgery remains unspecified. He was seen last month departing a church in Greenville, Delaware, with a noticeable incision on his head.
At 82, Biden had cancerous skin cells removed during his presidential term. His physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, noted in a memo that a cancerous lesion was excised from his chest in 2023 during a routine physical check-up.
A biopsy had revealed the lesion as basal cell carcinoma, one of the two most common forms of skin cancer, which is also treated using Mohs surgery.
Following the 2023 procedure, O’Connor wrote that “all cancerous tissue was successfully removed” and that “no further treatment is required.”
Similarly, in 2023, former First Lady Jill Biden had two cancerous skin lesions removed, one above her eye and another on her chest, both identified as basal cell carcinoma.
Concerns regarding Biden’s health increased significantly after his poor debate performance in June 2024, leading him to withdraw from his re-election campaign weeks later.
Biden revealed in May that he had been diagnosed with a form of prostate cancer so aggressive that it had already metastasized to his bones. His office said at the time that he was pursuing several treatment options to ensure “effective management” of the illness and said his cancer appeared to be “hormone-sensitive,” which experts have noted suggests he will most likely respond to treatment.
Republicans and Democrats alike rallied around Biden when he revealed the diagnosis, with some championing him as a resilient and wishing him a swift recovery.
Soon after, though, the outpouring took a partisan turn, with President Donald Trump and some of his allies questioning whether Biden was aware of the cancer while he was in office and whether the diagnosis was concealed by any of his aides, including O’Connor.
