McCain Will Undergo Surgery But Prognosis Hopeful
— -- Former presidential candidate Sen. John McCain has announced that he will undergosurgery to treat his skin cancer, and says his doctors are optimistic about his prognosis.
ABCNEWS.comAug. 18— Sen. John McCain announced today that he will undergo surgery for skin cancer Saturday, but is optimistic about his prognosis.
“I am very confident that everything is going to be just fine,” said McCain, a Republican from Arizona who made a spirited challenge for the Republican presididential nomination before losing out to Texas Gov. George W. Bush. “It’s a challenge, but it happens.”
McCain has been diagnosed with a recurrence of melanoma, potentially the most dangerous form of skin cancer.
The senator and his wife Cindy met with his doctors for about 3 1/2 hours today at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., to discuss the seriousness of his skin cancer and to chartthe best course of action against the malignancy.
McCain told reporters at an afternoon press conference that further surgery “would depend on the outcome of the operation itself,” but added, “They’re very confident they can take care of it with this operation.”
A Battery of Tests
McCain had blood tests, an electrocardiogram, a chest X-ray, a CT scan and an echocardiogram on Thursday, his office said.
The cancer was detected on his left arm and left temple. McCain had a melanoma mole removed from his shoulder in 1993.
Surgery is the traditional treatment for melanoma.
Doctors speaking to ABCNEWS.com, who were unfamiliar with the specifics of McCain’s most recent medical results, said his prognosis depends on whether the melanoma is new, how deep it is and how far it has spread.
“The odds are these are superficial lesions or very thin melanomas,” said Dr. David Polsky, associate director of the pigmented lesion clinic at New York University Medical Center.“If there is no evidence that melanoma has invaded [more deeply], surgery is considered to be virtually curative.”
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