Joe Biden recently underwent Mohs surgery, a spokesperson for the former president confirms to PEOPLE
The procedure is used to treat skin cancer
The news comes after Biden was spotted with a wound on his forehead
Joe Biden recently underwent Mohs surgery, a procedure used to treat skin cancer, a spokesperson for the former president confirms to PEOPLE.
According to the Mayo Clinic, the surgery involves cutting away thin layers of the skin until there are no signs of cancer. The goal of the procedure is to remove all of the skin cancer without harming the healthy skin around it.
The news comes after Inside Edition published a video of Biden, 82, on Thursday, Sept. 4, leaving a church in Rehoboth Beach, Del., with a large wound on his forehead.
In February 2023, while still in office, Biden had a cancerous skin lesion removed from his chest. White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor revealed the news that March.
“As expected, the biopsy confirmed that the small lesion was basal cell carcinoma. All cancerous tissue was successfully removed,” O’Connor wrote in a letter at the time.
The doctor explained that basal cell carcinoma lesions do not typically spread like more serious cancers do but do “have the potential to increase in size, resulting in a more significant issue as well as increased challenges for surgical removal.”
He noted at the time that the area that was biopsied had healed well and that Biden would not need further treatment other than “dermatologic surveillance.”
Following his physical exam in February 2023, O’Connor reported Biden “remains a healthy, vigorous 80-year-old male who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.”
This past May, Biden’s personal office announced that he had been seen for “a new finding of a prestate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms.”
The statement said that Biden had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, “characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.”
The Gleason score and grade system determine the level of aggressiveness of the cancer. Biden’s cancer has a Gleason score of 9 and is Grade 5, meaning it’s a “very high grade,” per the Mayo Clinic.
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” the statement continued.
Biden spoke out about the diagnosis in a statement on X in May, writing, “Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.