Statement by Physician to President

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.

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