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American Morning

McCain Back At Mayo Clinic For Skin Graft After Lesion Removal

Aired February 05, 2002 - 09:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Time now to turn to the issue of the health of one of the most well known members of the Senate. Arizona Republican John McCain is back at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix today for an operation to graft skin onto the spot on his nose where doctors removed a lesion yesterday. It was described as a nonmalignant melanoma, a precancerous growth. McCain had previously had two melanomas removed, which were diagnosed as cancerous.

And joining us now to talk more about this is our own Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. Now, did he -- I -- I'm not clear on this. He sought treatment in Phoenix or did he actually go to the Mayo Clinic in the Midwest?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually the Mayo Clinic has a clinic in Phoenix. It gets confusing because we all think of the Mayo Clinic as being in Minnesota, but they have some satellite clinics in other places. And, Paula, as you said, this is a new lesion, it is not a metastasis or a growth of any kind from previous ones. And that's good news. The other piece of good news is that it's not malignant. It is as -- what's described as "precancerous."

In other words, it could have become cancerous, and so they wanted to get it quickly. It's about the size of nickel. Senator McCain had a procedure on Monday to remove it. He's going to have plastic surgery tomorrow to go back and smooth that area over. Make it look good. Now, in the summer of 2000, I was in Phoenix when Senator McCain had his malignant melanoma removed from his temple.

Now he and his wife used his procedure and his illness as a time to educate Americans about skin cancer. You can see Mrs. McCain carrying basket of sun tan lotion over to reporters, and we all went up and got some. I think I still have mine sitting in my cupboard. He has really made it a crusade to let people know that they need to get their moles checked out.

It's probably a good idea actually for everyone to go to their dermatologist. It takes 10 minutes. They'll look at the moles on your body, and they'll tell you if anything looks suspicious. And even if it doesn't, they get a good baseline. They sort of know what you look like, so that when you come back later, if there have been any changes, they know if there have been changes. Paula.

ZAHN: So, in advance of going to your doctor, Elizabeth, what is it that people should be looking out for?

COHEN: Well, there are four things you want to look for when you see moles on your body. All of us have moles and freckles and whatever. The first thing is look for asymmetry. If it's a perfect circle, then it's probably okay. If it's sort of irregularly shaped, that's probably something you should get checked out.

The other thing is the border. If it's a real clean border, if there's a clean border between the mole and the skin, again, probably okay. If it looks a little cloudy or irregular, that could be a problem. Also, the color. Something which is just a plain-old mole will be all one color. You need to go see your doctor if it's more than one color within the mole.

And then finally, diameter. Anything that is bigger than the size of an eraser on a pencil is something you should definitely get checked out. Paula?

ZAHN: Show you my little wound right here. I guess you're not going make it out on camera. It's one that the doctor followed it for a couple years, and it was in fact precancerous. And it's a very simple operation. They just take it out, and hopefully you're all fine if you catch it early. Right?

COHEN: Exactly. Very simple and very common. Many, many people have what are called vasalar squamous cell carcinomas, and they just get removed and it's really no big deal. And especially with Senator McCain. They keep such a careful watch on him that I would imagine that they would just catch anything in its very, very early stage. And, again, no big deal. He said he's had bigger bouts with the dentist.

ZAHN: But the bottom line once again, as with all cancers, we must be vigilant, right? And keep an eye on all these spots on our own.

COHEN: Early detection so important. What's so interesting about melanoma is, that when you catch it early, it's so curable. It's really, as you said, no big deal. It just gets removed. It hasn't gone beyond the skin. But if you don't catch it early, it can go beyond the skin, get into the lymph system, get into other organs, and once it's melanoma and it's spread beyond the skin, it is really tough to get. Very high mortality rates.

ZAHN: Appreciate the warning. Elizabeth Cohen, as always. Have a good rest of the day.

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