Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced on Sunday, March 6 that he no longer needs treatment for melanoma.
The said disease is a type of skin cancer, which in Carter's case, has spread to his brain and liver.
Carter's Joy
Carter announced the big development on his condition at one of his Sunday school classes at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia.
It has been a routine for the 91-year-old Democrat to give a short update about his recent activities, including his condition, before he begins his regular classes. During his latest announcement, he specified that he underwent an MRI scan, which he had to endure for more than two hours.
He then narrates how his doctors deemed that he no longer needs any more treatment. "So I'm not going to have any more treatment," he says.
Carter then smiled and the audience cheered.
Doctors' Call
Despite doctors' call that Carter won't need to receive the novel immunotherapy drug that triggers the immune system to attack cancer cells, they will still continue to observe his condition, says Carter's spokeswoman Deanna Congileo.
If, however, Carter's cancer returns, he will return to Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University to resume treatment.
Carter's Disease Timeline
Carter was first diagnosed to have a liver melanoma in August 2015. Further scans revealed that he had four more tumors in the brain.
He started radiation and immunotherapy from then until February of this year. He also underwent a surgical procedure wherein doctors removed a part of his liver, where lesions of melanoma were noted.
In December 2015, Carter announced that he was cancer-free but persisted with his treatment of Merck & Co's Keytruda (pembrolizumab).
Cleveland Clinic's Taussig Cancer Institute's director Dr. Marc Ernstoff, who was not involved in Carter's care, said that approximately 30 percent of patients treated with Keytruda has notable reductions in the size of cancer. However, only about five percent successfully recovers entirely.
