ATLANTA, G.A. -- Since leaving office, former President Jimmy Carter has been a pioneer in improving health in the developing world. In fact, his organization, the Carter Center, has virtually eliminated the leading cause of preventable blindness in six African nations. Now he's the one needing medical attention. At age 90, he's been diagnosed with metastatic melanoma.
Sometimes symptoms of melanoma can be vague and if not caught in time, the disease can spread.
"It can spread to other parts of the body by two routes, either going through your lymphatic system, through the lymph nodes and then to the other parts of the body. And then it can go into your blood vessels and it can spread to the other parts," said Dr. Moshim Kukar, Roswell Park Cancer Institute surgical oncologist.
Former president Jimmy Carter announced earlier this month that a mass found on his liver was actually melanoma. That was removed surgically, but additional tests showed the 90-year-old also has masses on his brain.
"Ninety is a number and yes it may preclude certain treatment options, but on the other side, if everything else looks good, he can be considered for other treatments. In terms of the prognosis, it's very case specific. It varies from individual to individual, how the tumor biology is, how aggressive the tumor itself is, and I think it all comes down to how he's responding to the treatment," said Kukar.
Carter has announced he will undergo treatment, which will consist of focused radiation to the tumors in his brain and a type of immunotherapy.
"There are promising, novel immunotherapy agents that can be used to boost up an individual's immune system to fight against cancer," said Kukar.
Last year, The FDA fast-tracked the drug pembrolizumab known by its brand name Keytruda, for patients whose melanoma has spread. It helps the body's own immune system recognize and fight the cancer.
The drug will not cure Carter's disease, but it does have the potential to extend his life with fewer side-effects, which include fatigue and a rash. Carter says so far, treatment hasn't been too painful.