Former Vice President Joe Biden, who’s reportedly considering a 2020 presidential run, was under the guidance of his personal doctor during a colonoscopy when one of his “occasional constriction lesions” turned out to be malignant. In a statement to the press, Biden’s office said the lesions were still considered “benign,” but that the cancer had not been caught earlier.
“Having them removed prior to cancer spreading to other organs or his lymph nodes was the right thing to do,” Biden’s doctor said in the statement.
According to a statement released by Biden’s office on Friday, the former vice president had his procedure on February 27th.
“If you had told him last fall that a benign growth he had eight years ago would be an early sign of cancer, he would have laughed at you,” Biden spokesman David Wade said in the statement. “But you’re correct: this is a reminder that as a public figure, you can never be too vigilant. In this case, and like many other people my age, Joe will routinely undergo a colonoscopy and chime in if there’s something unusual or unusual that’s been found.”
Biden has some formidable competition for the Democratic nomination for president, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and the senators from California and New York.
This marks the second such medical emergency Biden’s face this year. He broke his hip in January while on vacation in Washington State and was hospitalized for five days after having an operation to fix the fracture. In that case, he also appeared to have won praise from his doctors, in that case at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Read the full statement from Biden’s office.
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