McCain is cancer free and fit, doctors say

by Jill Zuckman

Confronting a potential trouble spot, the campaign of Sen. John McCain produced medical records Friday showing that the 71-year-old presumptive Republican presidential nominee is cancer-free and physically able to serve as president, an assertion backed up by his doctors.

"Sen. McCain is in excellent physical and mental health at this time," said Dr. John Eckstein, his internist for 16 years at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. "We can find nothing in his medical history to prevent him from serving as president of the United States with vigor."

The Arizona senator would be the oldest person elected to a first term as president, and some voters have expressed concerns about his age. Campaign officials hope to quash those worries with the release of his medical records.

Four physicians from the Mayo Clinic spoke to reporters and answered questions about McCain's health. About 20 "pool" reporters were allotted three hours to examine 1,173 pages of records covering the last eight years.

"If voters see this as a clean bill of health, it certainly makes it more acceptable that he would be 72 years old when inaugurated," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

In the most recent Quinnipiac poll of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, three key swing states, one-third of independent voters said they are somewhat or entirely uncomfortable with someone entering office as president at McCain's age.

Sen. Barack Obama, considered the likely Democratic nominee, is 46 years old. His campaign plans to release a summary of his health early next week.

Eight years ago, McCain was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma the size of a dime on his lower left temple. Doctors said they have found no sign that the cancer has come back or spread, and McCain's skin is checked every three to four months. He also wears sunscreen and baseball caps outdoors, and tries to avoid direct sunlight.

Altogether, McCain has had four malignant melanomas removed. The other three were not invasive, his doctors said. Those were on his left shoulder, left arm and left nasal sidewall, removed in 1993, 2000 and 2002.

Dr. Suzanne Connolly, McCain's dermatologist, said the senator has several risk factors for skin cancer--pale skin, light eyes, light hair and a history of excessive exposure to sun--though he has no family history of melanoma and no known history of unusual moles.

Connolly said a person who has had one melanoma is at greater risk for having another. But she described the possibility that the invasive cancer would return as being in the low single digits.

McCain had an early stage squamous cell carcinoma, the second most common form of skin cancer, removed in February of this year. He also had benign polyps removed during a routine colonoscopy in March and showed signs of diverticulitis, which is an inflammation of the colon.

The optimism of McCain's doctors about his health seems justified based on the available records, said Dr. Daniel Derman, an internist and president of the Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group in Chicago.

"It's fair to say that for a man his age, he's on the more active end, the more healthy end," Derman said. "I'm not a McCain supporter, but I'd say there's no issue here."

Eckstein, the senator's internist, described McCain as heart-healthy and an avid hiker, having walked the Grand Canyon from rim to rim in August 2006. His stress echocardiogram is normal at a high level of exercise, and there is no sign of decreased blood supply to any part of his heart. He takes simvastatin to lower his cholesterol.

McCain has complained about dizziness, and Eckstein diagnosed him with "very benign positional vertigo." That means that when he gets up from sitting or lying down, he may experience a whirling sensation that lasts 2 to 5 seconds and then disappears. Eckstein said the vertigo does not indicate any vascular problem for the brain and it is not a precursor to having a stroke.

Eckstein said he has encouraged McCain to drink more water and cut his sodium intake. McCain takes aspirin to prevent blood clots, Zyrtec for allergies, a multivitamin and, on occasion, Ambien CR when he has trouble sleeping.

Until he quit in 1980, McCain smoked two packs of cigarettes a day for 25 years. He drinks alcohol as infrequently as two drinks a month, the records said.

In October 1967, McCain's plane was shot down over Hanoi and he broke both arms and a leg while ejecting. Subsequently, he was a prisoner of war for 51/2 years, and was beaten and tortured regularly. During that time, both of his shoulders were broken.

"Because he received no treatment for his fractures, all fractures healed with significantly reduced range of motion of his shoulders, arms and right knee," Eckstein noted.

Nevertheless, McCain "does not complain of bone or joint pain and does not take pain medication," he said.

McCain takes medication to prevent kidney stones and he has had small kidney stones in his right kidney, as well as a number of small benign cysts in both kidneys. Tribune reporter Jeremy Manier contributed to this report from Chicago.