# Question about Jimmy Carter's melanoma diagnosis **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349 "2015-08-20T14:32:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/1 "2015-08-20T14:32:08Z")
I haven’t seen the press conference, so this might have been covered, but. . . As I understand it, melanoma, while commonly called a type of ‘skin cancer’ is really a cancer arising in the pigmentation cells, not the connective skin tissue itself, like basal cell or squamous cell. His original surgery was for a liver biopsy, and his press conference indicated that there are spots on his brain, too. Not questioning the metastatic nature of cancer spread. I got that. But since it was diagnosed as melanoma, are there other places other than the skin where pigmentation cells exist? Or had they already identified a primary site on his skin somewhere? ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/2 "2015-08-20T16:15:16Z")
So I had a Stage IA melanoma removed from my left leg. While this is basically one of the “best” invasive cancers (Stage IA means it has invaded skin tissue, albeit not deeply, Stage 0 or melanoma in situ exists on top of the skin but hasn’t invaded the epidermis) in terms of long term survivability rates it still lead me to do a lot of research and ask a lot of questions of my doctors, because hey, it’s cancer–I felt I needed to know. As I would read about specific cases of melanoma that had spread, I had the same question. “How can they diagnose melanoma when they can’t find a primary on the skin?” And “how do they know someone didn’t have a melanoma on their skin and independently developed say, lung, liver, brain, or lymphoma unrelated to the melanoma?” In my case I have reasonable belief that my melanoma developed ten years prior to its removal, as that is when a mole grew in size, darkened, and then sat like that for ten years. I was one of the lucky ones–my melanoma was apparently not growing, and I’ve heard case stories of people who had a melanoma that sat there for 40+ years without spreading any further. I’ve also read case stories of people who see a weird skin growth and who are in the ground four months later. The answer as I understand it, is when melanoma metastasizes it first goes to the near lymph nodes, and then on the lymphatic superhighway can spread to far organs. The way they can know that it is a case of metastatic melanoma and not simply independent cancers, is that the melanocytes that normally only exist on the outer layer of the skin and give skin its pigmentation, are actually found in those cancers in the lymph nodes and removed organs. So that would be how, if Carter’s cancer is metastatic melanoma, they’d know that, the tumors they’ve found in his brain or liver would have melanocytes in them. That’s my layman’s understanding based on my understanding of what my personal doctor sand the Internet told me, so I may be getting it wrong. FWIW I’ve also read that is why there is some hope that melanoma may be the first metastatic cancer that can be truly “cured.” Its behavior in that it spreads “identifiable cells” throughout the body, that are distinct from the cells of surrounding tissue, gives researchers hope that they can engineer drugs that teach the immune system to target these cells specifically and destroy them. With most other cancers the cancerous growths are extremely hard to “mark” as different from healthy tissue. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/3 "2015-08-20T17:39:30Z")
One pigmented area is the iris. And indeed it is possible, according to my doctor, for the eye to be the primary site of melanomia. Rare but it happens. My son’s sister-in-law died of melanomia a couple days after her 32nd birthday. They examined her closely but were never able to find a primary site. Another surprise, again according to my doctor, is that it can start in places that the sun don’t shine, even though tanning may be the real cause. I don’t understand this; maybe some doctor can explain it. It’s as though tanning releases some toxin that can cause melanomia somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/4 "2015-08-20T19:14:20Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > One pigmented area is the iris. And indeed it is possible, according to my doctor, for the eye to be the primary site of melanomia. Rare but it happens. My son’s sister-in-law died of melanomia a couple days after her 32nd birthday. They examined her closely but were never able to find a primary site. Another surprise, again according to my doctor, is that it can start in places that the sun don’t shine, even though tanning may be the real cause. I don’t understand this; maybe some doctor can explain it. It’s as though tanning releases some toxin that can cause melanomia somewhere else. It’s my understanding that exposure to UV weakens the skin’s resistance, thus allowing the cancer to develop. It’s perfectly possible for a melanoma to develop in skin that has never been exposed to UV. All of these conditions are seen on a Bell curve of the population. There are 5 to 10% who will get “it” whatever they do, and 5 to 10% who will never get “it”. The rest can improve or weaken their chances by being careful. ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/5 "2015-08-20T19:21:06Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > … since it was diagnosed as melanoma, are there other places other than the skin where pigmentation cells exist? Or had they already identified a primary site on his skin somewhere? (Stage IV melanoma patient here; in-transit, lymph node, and lung mets, but clean brain MRI so far) When cancer metastasizes, it retains its original form wherever it goes. It’s not unknown for the primary site to resolve and never be located, while the melanoma has spread to other organs without their own melanocytes. Metastasis to the brain has a poor outlook even by melanoma standards. Carter is probably getting stereotactic radiosurgery, possibly followed by immune therapy (I am in a study receiving a combination of such drugs). Chemo is not very effective against melanoma. I was startled by Obama and Clinton at least initially yammering away about a “fast and full” or “speedy” recovery. A ninety-year-old sincere Christian with that diagnosis who has led a very productive and admired life deserves better-thought-out comment. A page explaining some of the basics of Carter’s diagnosis: > **[Where and Why Can Melanoma Spread to Other Parts of the Body?](https://www.verywellhealth.com/where-and-why-can-melanoma-spread-3010811)** > > Learn about melanoma metastasis, which occurs when a lesion recurs, gets thicker or spreads from the skin to the lymph nodes or distant organs. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/6 "2015-08-21T04:24:09Z")
Yes, [eyes](http://www.ocularmelanoma.org/disease.htm) can be a source: the retina (more commonly but more precisely the chorioid/posterior uvea); the iris; the ciliary body; and rarely the outside covering of the eye surface, the [conjunctiva](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3601642/) (which is what my mother, dead from very late appearing, like 15 years later later, brain mets, several years back now, had). Skin and the nervous system share the same embryologic origin: ectoderm. (The retina is actually an outgrowth of the brain btw, the conjunctiva from the skin.) So the unanswered and possibly unanswerable question is regarding melanomas that are first identified in the brain: are they primary to the brain (and melanocytes are found in the leptomeninges, substantia nigra and locus coerulus) or are they metastatic to the brain with a disappearing primary source, one that[the body successfully fought off on its own](http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/93/14/1047.full) but not before it had seeded elsewhere? My experience is that most oncologists favor the disappearing primary hypothesis over the brain melanocyte/melanocyte precursor hypothesis in those circumstances but from a practical POV it does not matter much: if you have melanoma in the brain the odds are not so good you will do well. Best wishes for a very prolonged period of quiescence **FeAudrey**. Yeah, even smart people can say stupid things when they mean well. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/7 "2015-08-21T14:26:50Z")
Carter himself said his doctors told him that 2% of melanomas are found elsewhere than the skin. News reports also said that the 5-year prognosis showed a 15-20% chance of survival and that Carter’s age wouldn’t make a difference. I don’t know what that means for him individually, but this is still not an automatic quick death sentence. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/8 "2015-08-21T15:02:23Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Carter himself said his doctors told him that 2% of melanomas are found elsewhere than the skin. > > News reports also said that the 5-year prognosis showed a 15-20% chance of survival and that Carter’s age wouldn’t make a difference. I don’t know what that means for him individually, but this is still not an automatic quick death sentence. I don’t disagree with the quoted 10 to 15 percent chance of (5-year) survival for metastatic melanoma. [CITE](http://www.cancer.org/cancer/skincancer-melanoma/detailedguide/melanoma-skin-cancer-survival-rates). That said, of all metastatic locations, brain and liver are pretty much the worst in terms of long-term prognosis. And, FWIW, the cite above points out that older people with the disease tend to fare less well than younger victims. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/9 "2015-08-21T15:44:09Z")
His age makes a difference in one sense: that 5-year prognosis means that if he didn’t die of something else first there is an 80 to 85% chance that he will die from the melanoma within 5 years. Of course the life expectancy of a man who has reached 90 is 94 anyway, so he might very well die of something else (the “dies of old age” thing) before the melanoma kills him. But that 5-year prognosis is misleading. More than half of those with melanoma brain mets are [dead](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3173717/) before 8 months is up, and those are better than numbers had historically been, based on improved local control interventions. > [@](#): > > … Overall, historical melanoma patient cohorts have reported a median survival of patients with brain metastases in the order of 2.5 – 4 months despite use of whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) and surgery. … Apparently pleural mets are the worst. The odds are significantly against him living another year … but no it is not automatic. I wish him comfort and dignity to the end of his time and if his faith helps him achieve that more power to him and his beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/10 "2015-08-21T15:44:52Z")
Melanomas can develop in numerous organs of the body, including liver as a primary site (this is very rare). There are melanocytes present in various mucosal surfaces of the body which can be the source of melanomas. _“Primary mucosal melanomas arise from melanocytes located in mucosal membranes lining respiratory, gastrointestinal and urogenital tract. Although a majority of mucosal melanomas originate from the mucosa of the nasal cavity and accessory sinuses, oral cavity, anorectum, vulva and vagina, they can arise in almost any part of mucosal membranes. Most of mucosal melanomas occur in occult sites, which together with the lack of early and specific signs contribute to late diagnosis, and poor prognosis.”_ > **[Primary mucosal melanomas: a comprehensive review](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3466987/)** > > Primary mucosal melanomas arise from melanocytes located in mucosal membranes lining respiratory, gastrointestinal and urogenital tract. Although a majority of mucosal melanomas originate from the mucosa of the nasal cavity and accessory sinuses,... It is entirely possible that Carter never had a melanoma of the skin but that the primary source was elsewhere in the body and not detectable by usual tests. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/11 "2015-08-21T16:16:56Z")
Thanks, all. . . . ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/12 "2015-08-21T17:14:04Z")
I’m sad that I keep reading the OP title as Carter’s megalomania diagnosis. ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/13 "2015-08-21T20:12:14Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > … Best wishes for a very prolonged period of quiescence **FeAudrey** … Thank you. I had my second treatment this week – no major side effects so far, and the doctor thinks that the involved lymph nodes in my left axilla are softening and diminishing a bit. Friends have been praising me for doing as much as I can as long as I can, and there is Jimmy Carter, older and sicker than I am, moaning about not being able to go to Nepal to build houses for poor people! :o ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/14 "2015-08-22T01:57:21Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > It is entirely possible that Carter never had a melanoma of the skin but that the primary source was elsewhere in the body and not detectable by usual tests. Possible, yes. But in a light-skinned guy who worked as a farmer in the US south, the likelihood of it being a primary cutaneous melanoma is probably even greater than the “98 percent” chance that Carter himself mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/15 "2015-08-22T04:57:02Z")
Jimmy Carter makes his last wish known: He wants to see the last guinea worm die before he does. [Jimmy Carter Wants To See The Last Guinea Worm Die Before He Does](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jimmy-carter-guinea-worm-die_55d7481be4b0a40aa3aaad40) ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/16 "2015-08-22T11:57:40Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Jimmy Carter makes his last wish known: He wants to see the last guinea worm die before he does. > > [Jimmy Carter Wants To See The Last Guinea Worm Die Before He Does](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jimmy-carter-guinea-worm-die_55d7481be4b0a40aa3aaad40) That’s something we can all wish him unreservedly. ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/17 "2015-08-22T16:29:38Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > (and melanocytes are found in the leptomeninges, substantia nigra and locus coerulus) . Small quibble here: While there are bonafide melanocytes in the leptomeninges (especially around the brainstem) to my knowledge they are not in the SN or LC. The cells there are pigmented and thus resemble melanocyres, but the pigment in those cells is not melanin, but neuromelanin, which is related to other things those cells make (dopamine in the SN and norepinephrine in the LC). ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/18 "2015-08-22T21:01:56Z")
> [@Oly](#): > > Small quibble here: While there are bonafide melanocytes in the leptomeninges (especially around the brainstem) to my knowledge they are not in the SN or LC. The cells there are pigmented and thus resemble melanocyres, but the pigment in those cells is not melanin, but neuromelanin, which is related to other things those cells make (dopamine in the SN and norepinephrine in the LC). It may be a small quibble but it is still an interesting one! [Where I got it from.](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2792575/) (Which I had meant to link to, sorry.) > [@](#): > > … Besides their existence in the skin, melanin and melanocytes have been reported to appear in the stria vascularis of the cochlea [9], in the leptomeninges [10], substantia nigra and locus coerulus [11] of the brain, in the heart [12,13] and there is evidence that they operate even in such inhospitable territories as adipose tissue [14]. … Extracutaneous melanocytes located in the brain may have several neuroendocrine functions. Human melanocytes express lipocalin-type prostaglandin D synthase (L-PGDS) which generates prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) [20]. Besides, in melanocytes, β-endorphin, an endogenous opioid, is generated from proopiomelanocortin (POMC) together with MSH and ACTH. Does this suggest that melanocytes regulate sleep? PGD2 is a potent sleep-inducing substance [21] and opioid receptors are located in the nuclei that are active in sleep regulation [19]. Also, there are indications that a certain melanocyte-derived factor might be involved in controlling the central chemosensor that generates the respiratory rhythm [19]. Pigment in the brain, termed neuromelanin, consists of a large, complex, eumelanin-covered pheomelanin core which may also contain aliphatics and peptides [22]. Neuromelanin is primarily localized in dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra and in the locus coerulus, and accumulates in the human substantia nigra with age [11]. A selective loss of dopaminergic neurons containing neuromelanin is associated with Parkinson’s disease [11]. Various studies support the concept that neuromelanins have a protective function by binding/removal of ROS and metals that would otherwise be highly toxic to neurons [11,23,24]. A recent study showed that virtually all brain tissues contain significant amounts of neuromelanin, which are thought to play important roles in reducing toxicity in those tissues [25]. [Neuromelanin is a form of melanin](http://www.fasebj.org/content/21/4/976.full), not just a separate pigment. > [@](#): > > Melanins are polymorphous and multifunctional biopolymers that include eumelanin, pheomelanin, mixed melanins (a combination of the two), and neuromelanin I grant that they are differentiated into a neuronal line rather than into skin pigment melanocytes. Melanocytes are not only of ectodermal origin, they are, along with neurons and not other skin cells, specifically[of dorsal neural crest cell origin](http://www.nature.com/jid/journal/v132/n3-2/full/jid2011386a.html) that then migrate to skin locations. > [@](#): > > Melanocytes share common embryologic origin, signaling molecules, receptors, and signaling pathways with cells of the nervous system. The signaling molecules include endothelins, steel factor, hepatocyte growth factor, bone morphogenetic proteins, FGFs, and NTs, and the signaling pathways include PKC- and p53/p73-dependent pathways. Together, they allow precursor melanocytes and neurons to reach their final destination, differentiate in the target tissue, sprout dendrites to form connections with surrounding cells, and help in the maintenance and survival of melanocytes and neurons at steady state and after injury. [Interesting experiment](http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0065983): transplanting skin melanocytes into striatum of hemi-parkinsonian model rats or mice lesioned with 6-hydroxydopamine significantly improved the Parkinson-like behaviors. (The line of research is to see if one can autograft skin origin melanocytes as a Parkinson’s treatment.) It seems that putting melanocytes into the signaling environment of neuromelanin producing neurons (accepting that calling them melanocytes may be a step too far) can get them to subserve some of those functions lost in these Parkinson models. [This](http://link.springer.com/protocol/10.1007%2F978-1-62703-095-3_9) is also interesting: a zebrafish model showing some shared pathways specifically between dopa pathways and skin melanocyte function. Minimally these pigmented neurons in the SN and LC share much more than a mere superficial commonality with differentiated skin melanocytes. Sorry for the digression. I’d love for Mr. Carter to die knowing he outlived Guinea worms on this planet! ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/19 "2015-08-23T22:35:23Z")
Once again, thanks, everyone! ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349/20 "2015-12-06T16:43:00Z")
Good news! > [@](#): > > Former President Jimmy Carter said Sunday his cancer is gone. Carter, 91, made the announcement near the beginning of the Sunday School class he was teaching at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, a close friend and fellow church member said. > > “He said he got a scan this week and the cancer was gone,” Jill Stuckey said by phone from Maranatha, where Carter was still in the midst of teaching to about 350 people, many of them visitors. “The church, everybody here, just erupted in applause.” > > Carter said in August that doctors had found four small melanoma lesions on his brain. The discovery followed the removal of a lesion on his liver that took about ten percent of the organ. He said he would receive four drug treatments, along with radiation therapy, and that he would cut back significantly on his schedule. > **[President Jimmy Carter Says Cancer in Brain Is Gone](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/president-jimmy-carter-says-cancer-brain-gone-n475056)** > > Carter, 91, announced the good news to attendees of a Sunday school class he teaches weekly at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-jimmy-carters-melanoma-diagnosis/728349.md?page=2)