First lady Jill Biden will undergo surgery next week to remove a lesion above her right eye, according to a medical memo released Wednesday by her press secretary.
The president’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, said in the note that a «small lesion» was found over Biden’s right eye during a routine skin cancer screening.
«As a precautionary measure, doctors have recommended that it be removed,» O’Connor said.
The first lady is scheduled for what O’Connor called a «common outpatient procedure» known as Mohs surgery to remove and examine tissue. That procedure will take place on January 11 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
No additional information was immediately available, though more details would be provided after the proceeding, Biden’s press secretary Vanessa Valdivia, who posted the memo in a tweet Wednesday night, told NBC News.
According to the American Cancer Society, Mohs surgery involves removing a very thin layer of skin, including the lesion, and examining the sample under a microscope. If cancer cells are found, additional layers of skin are removed until the samples are free of cancer cells.
Beau Biden, the president’s son, died in 2015 after a long battle with brain cancer.
Jill Biden, 71, has been an advocate for cancer prevention and treatment and partnered with the American Cancer Society in October to launch roundtables on breast and cervical cancer.
Your scheduled surgery comes about a year after you swore to “end the tragedy of cancer as we know it,” working to support cancer patients and their families and encouraging Americans to prioritize cancer screenings.
Kelly O’Donnell Y mike memoli contributed.