THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
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For Immediate Release
January 16, 2001
STATEMENT BY PHYSICIAN TO THE PRESIDENT
REAR ADMIRAL E. CONNIE MARIANO
During President Clinton?s physical examination on January 12 at the
National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, a lesion on his back suspicious
for skin cancer was excised. The pathology results read this morning
confirmed that the lesion was a superficial basal cell skin cancer.
Pathologists noted that the margins of the lesion appeared "clean"
indicating that the lesion had been totally removed. In addition, at the
time of the biopsy, the President elected to have the tissue surrounding
the lesion treated superficially with "scraping and burning" in the event
the lesion was to be confirmed as skin cancer.
Overall, the President is in good health. The President?s risk of
recurrence of basal cell skin cancer is low, but he faces a higher risk
than the population at large of developing a new lesion in the future due
to his fair skin and years of sun exposure. The President will be seen in
four to six months by a dermatologist. If there is no evidence of new
lesions at the time of follow-up, he will be examined annually.
30-30-30
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