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Jan. 11 (UPI) -- First lady Jill Biden has completed outpatient surgery to remove several cancerous skin lesions. One small lesion was discovered above Biden's right eye during an earlier cancer screening, and a second small lesion was found on her left eyelid during Wednesday's procedure, which also found an additional lesion on the left side of her chest.
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In an East Wing update after the surgery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the president's physician, Kevin O'Connor, said all cancerous tissue was fully removed.
"The procedure confirmed the small lesion was basal cell carcinoma," O'Connor said in a statement Wednesday about the lesion above Biden's right eye. "All cancerous tissue was successfully removed, and the margins were clear of any residual skin cancer cells."
A Jan. 4 statement from O'Connor said the initial cancer screening on the first lady, 71, found the first small lesion, which required Mohs surgery.
"During a routine skin cancer screening, a small lesion was found above the first lady's right eye. In an abundance of caution, doctors have recommended it be removed. On Wednesday, Jan. 11, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the first lady will undergo a common outpatient procedure known as Mohs surgery to remove and definitively examine the tissue," O'Connor said in the earlier statement from the White House.
Mohs micrographic surgery is used to remove cancer cells while preserving as much healthy tissue as possible. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, Mohs surgery is considered the most effective technique for treating many basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas, which are the two most common types of skin cancer.
During Wednesday's procedure, doctors identified the lesion above Biden's right eye as basal cell carcinoma which is usually less serious and does not spread beyond its initial site, unlike other skin cancers such as melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma.
Doctors also discovered a small lesion on Biden's left eyelid during the outpatient procedure. The second lesion was removed and sent to a lab for further examination, according to O'Connor who said doctors found an additional lesion on the left side of Biden's chest, which was also removed and appeared to be basal cell carcinoma.
President Joe Biden went to Walter Reed with his wife just hours after arriving back from a two-day summit in Mexico.
The first lady was scheduled to return to the White House on Wednesday evening and could experience some facial swelling and bruising, according to O'Connor, who said she "is in good spirits and feeling well."
