First lady Jill Biden had two cancerous lesions — one above her right eye and another on her chest — removed on Wednesday at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
In a report released Wednesday, President Biden's physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, said the lesions above the first lady's eye and on her chest were confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma. Biden, 71, also had a third lesion above her left eyelid, which was "fully excised, with margins, and was sent for standard microscopic examination." The lesion above Biden's right eye was found during a recent skin cancer screening, the first lady's office shared last week.
Biden, who is expected to return to the White House on Wednesday night, is "experiencing some facial swelling and bruising," O'Connor said, but is "in good spirits and is feeling well."
Basal cell carcinoma is the most common form of skin cancer, with an estimated 3.6 million cases diagnosed in the United States annually, the Skin Cancer Foundation said. It is a slow-growing cancer, and when caught and treated early, most are curable and cause minimal damage.