Despite Sen. John McCain's three bouts with melanoma - including a surgery in 2000 that left his cheek visibly scarred - the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's doctors yesterday declared him cancer-free and in general good health.
The Arizona senator's medical history puts him at increased risk for future skin cancer, so he sees his dermatologist at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., every three to four months. This year, he had a minor skin cancer removed from his lower leg.
"At the present time, Senator McCain enjoys excellent health and displays extraordinary energy," Dr. John D. Eckstein, McCain's internist at the Mayo Clinic, told reporters yesterday. "While it is impossible to predict any person's future health today, I can find no medical reason or problems that would preclude Senator McCain from fulfilling all the duties and obligations of president of the United States."
McCain's age - he turns 72 in August and would be the oldest elected first-term president if he wins - has provoked more questions than usual about a candidate's medical condition. It has also prompted closer scrutiny of potential running mates who might be called on to succeed him.
Neither 46-year-old Sen. Barack Obama nor 60-year-old Sen. Hillary Clinton, his younger Democratic rivals, has released medical records.
McCain's campaign released nearly 1,200 pages of records yesterday, ranging from 2000 through a visit to the dermatologist two weeks ago.
During the 2000 presidential campaign, when McCain ran against George W. Bush in the Republican primary, the senator was similarly open with his medical history, part of an attempt to show that McCain is healthy enough to serve as president.
There were no real surprises in the information yesterday.
Since 1993, McCain has had melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, on three separate occasions.
Three spots on his skin found in 1993, 2000 and 2002 were not invasive, but a 2000 spot on his face was considered an "intermediate-stage" melanoma. It was 2.2 millimeters deep and 2 centimeters across, according to Dr. Michael L. Hinni, the Mayo Clinic surgeon who removed it. Hinni said the operation resulted in a roughly circular, six-centimeter wound on the left side of Mr. McCain's face.Tests conducted at the time showed that the cancer had not spread.
