Jill Biden underwent surgery to remove skin cancer

WASHINGTON – Surgeons removed a cancerous lesion above first lady Jill Biden’s right eye on Wednesday, as well as another cancerous lesion on her breast, the White House said, while a third lesion on her left eyelid was examined.

Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, said tests showed a lesion on Biden’s left eye and one recently discovered on her breast were both confirmed as basal cell carcinoma. The lesion in her right eye was “completely excised, with margins, and was sent for standard microscopic examination.”

Biden and her husband, President Joe Biden, spent the day at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, while she underwent an outpatient procedure known as Mohs surgery to remove and examine the lesions.

O’Connor said the first lady “is experiencing swelling and bruising but is in good spirits and doing well.” She is expected to return to the White House on Wednesday evening.

THIS IS BREAKING NEWS. Earlier AP history is below.

On Wednesday, Jill Biden had to undergo surgery to remove a potentially cancerous tumor lesion above the right eye.

The first lady’s office announced a week ago that doctors discovered the lesion during a recent routine skin cancer screening.

President Joe Biden accompanied his wife to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, where she was scheduled to undergo a “general outpatient procedure known as Mohs’ surgery to remove and definitively examine the tissue,” Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, said in a Jan. 4 memo released last week by the first lady’s office.

The surgery involves cutting away thin layers of skin and examining each layer individually for signs of cancer, according to a Mayo Clinic newsletter. Doctors will continue to remove layers of skin and examine them in the lab until the signs of cancer disappear. For most people, the procedure takes less than four hours, after which they can go home.

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Doctors recommended removing the lesion in the 71-year-old first lady “with great caution,” O’Connor wrote in the note. An update is expected later Wednesday.

The Skin Cancer Foundation said that the delicate skin around the eyes is particularly susceptible to the effects of the sun’s ultraviolet rays.

The operation was scheduled for the morning after the Bidens returned from Mexico City, where the president held two days of talks with the leaders of Mexico and Canada, and the first lady met with women, children and her colleagues.

In April 2021, the first lady transferred medical procedure which the White House called only “ordinary.” Details are not disclosed. The president accompanied her to an outpatient center near the George Washington University campus, and they returned to the White House about two hours later.