Joe Biden Undergoes Skin Cancer Surgery on Forehead, Months After Stage 4 Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

Joe Biden recently had Mohs surgery, a treatment for skin cancer, a spokesperson for the former president confirmed to PEOPLE.

According to the Mayo Clinic, Mohs surgery involves carefully removing thin layers of skin until no signs of cancer remain. The goal is to remove all cancer while keeping as much healthy skin as possible.

This news came after Inside Edition shared a video of Biden, 82, on Thursday, Sept. 4, leaving a church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, showing a large wound on his forehead.

In February 2023, while still in office, Biden had a cancerous skin lesion removed from his chest. White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor revealed this in March.

“As expected, the biopsy confirmed that the small lesion was basal cell carcinoma. All cancerous tissue was successfully removed,” O’Connor wrote.

Dr. O’Connor explained that basal cell carcinoma usually does not spread like other cancers, but it “can grow bigger, which makes surgery harder.” He also noted that the biopsied area had healed well and that Biden would not need more treatment besides “dermatologic surveillance.”

After Biden’s physical exam in February 2023, O’Connor reported that Biden “remains a healthy, vigorous 80-year-old male who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.”

This past May, Biden’s office said he had been examined for “a new finding of a prestate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms.”

The statement said Biden had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, “characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.”

The Gleason score and grade system show how aggressive the cancer is. Biden’s cancer has a Gleason score of 9 and Grade 5, which is considered “very high grade,” according to the Mayo Clinic.

“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” the statement said.

Biden spoke about the diagnosis in a statement on X, writing, “Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.”

Former First Lady Jill Biden had two cancerous lesions removed from her eye and chest in January 2023. Biden’s son Beau Biden died from brain cancer in 2015 at age 46.