Doctors remove two skin cancer melanomas from John McCain

Sen. John McCain spent more than five hours in surgery to remove skin cancer from his temple and upper arm, and his doctor said preliminary findings show that the cancer had not spread to his lymph nodes.

Sen. John McCain spent more than five hours in surgery to remove skin cancer from his temple and upper arm, and his doctor said preliminary findings show that the cancer had not spread to his lymph nodes.

McCain's internist, Dr. John Eckstein, said Saturday's surgery to remove the two melanomas, the most serious form of skin cancer, went exactly as expected and without complications.

The removal of the melanoma from his left arm involved a simple excision, Eckstein said. The surgery on the left temple was more extensive and included the removal of lymph nodes from the face and neck and a salivary gland, he said.

"We are pleased to let you know that the preliminary report on the lymph nodes ... was clear without any evidence of melanoma cells," he said. "However it will take several days to fully evaluate the removed surgical tissue."

McCain was recovering at the Mayo Clinic Hospital and was expected to remain there for two to three days, Eckstein said.

The surgery followed earlier tests that found no signs that the cancer spread beyond the two new melanomas. The lymph nodes removed Saturday from around the cancerous lesions were being tested to help determine whether the surgery was the only treatment necessary.

If the cancer had reached one or more of the lymph nodes, treatment is more complicated and less likely to cure the cancer, melanoma experts said. Options include anti-cancer drugs and stimulating the immune system to try to fight the cancer.

The outlook would have been much worse if the cancer had spread to McCain's organs, since that stage of melanoma is extremely difficult to treat, said Dr. John Glaspy, a researcher at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center.

Doctors found the melanomas after McCain left the Republican National Convention to have biopsies performed at Bethesda Naval Hospital near Washington.

Melanoma is usually caused by exposure to the sun.

People with fair skin, like McCain, have a higher risk of skin cancer. McCain spent hours in the Arizona sun campaigning for Congress in 1982 and subsequent years.