| A New York Times article raised concerns that John | | | | The test showed that it had not, he adds. He writes, |
| McCain could suffer a recurrence of the skin cancer | | | | "But because such a test cannot be definitive, the |
| that he suffered eight years ago. The report follows | | | | surgeons, with Mr. McCain's advance permission, |
| close on the hells of the story alleging an affair | | | | removed the surrounding lymph nodes and part of |
| between the senior senator and lobbyist Vicki | | | | the parotid gland, which produces saliva, in the same |
| Iseman. | | | | operation, which lasted five and a half hours." |
| The report, by reporter Lawrence K. Altman, who is | | | | McCain's staff at the time, according to Altman, had |
| also a medical doctor, refers to the melanoma, or | | | | said that the final pathology analysis reported no |
| skin cancer, that McCain had back in 2000. Altman | | | | evidence of the spread of the melanoma, or that |
| writes that though McCain is occasionally asked about | | | | chemotherapy or radiation was needed. |
| his age, he has almost never been asked about his | | | | However, Altman quotes Dr. Richard L. Shapiro, a |
| health. He suggests that McCain's melanoma could | | | | melanoma surgeon at New York University, as saying |
| recur. He does, however, indicate that the chances | | | | that "With melanoma, a patient is never completely |
| of a recurrence are extremely slim. | | | | clear." Altman accepts that a recurrence did not |
| "Doctors advise melanoma patients to have regular | | | | seem likely in the case of McCain. However, he |
| checkups to detect new skin cancers and the spread | | | | indicates that the typical treatment, in case of a |
| of old ones because melanomas can be quirky," the | | | | recurrence, involved surgery and a complicated form |
| report states. McCain's staff, it points out, has not | | | | of chemotherapy, adding that the "chances of |
| revealed the tests that his doctors are using to | | | | long-term survival diminish." |
| monitor the case, it adds. Altman states that | | | | Altman even goes on to point out that John McCain |
| recurrences of melanoma take place in the first few | | | | seemed to be very careful about shielding himself |
| years after diagnosis. He adds that the survival | | | | from the sun by using a "powerful sunscreen before |
| figures for melanomas are often measured in | | | | outdoor events," and relying on "spots of shade" or |
| ten-year periods instead of the five-year periods | | | | "baseball caps." Altman said that McCain's "prognosis |
| used to calculate survival in the case of some other | | | | for the recurrence of melanoma medical" could be |
| cancers." | | | | estimated only by talking with experts having no |
| Altman has described how McCain had undergone a | | | | firsthand knowledge of his medical condition. But |
| surgery to determine whether the cancer had spread | | | | those "experts say his prospects appear favorable," |
| from his left temple to a key lymph node in his neck. | | | | he writes. |