[url]story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020205/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/mccain_cancer_surgery_1[/url]

Mon Feb 4, 8:33 PM ET
By CHRISTOPHER NEWTON, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Sen. John McCain has been diagnosed with another case of melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, and was scheduled to undergo surgery Monday night in Phoenix, according to his office.

 
It's the third time McCain, R-Ariz., has been diagnosed with skin cancer.

The lesion, which is a tiny freckle on the left side of McCain's nose, is not related to any melanoma that McCain has had before and is not life-threatening, according to his office.

McCain, R-Ariz., had a lesion removed from his upper arm in 1993 and his temple during his 2000 presidential campaign.

He was headed to the Mayo Clinic Hospital on Monday evening for the surgery, according to an aide who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A routine checkup turned up the mark on the left side of McCain's nose and a biopsy was performed in January. Doctors do not believe the cancer has spread, the office said.

If melanoma skin lesion hasn't spread, it can be easily cured by cutting it out of the skin.

McCain's surgery will take less than an hour and he will be under local anesthesia, his office said. After McCain's nose is cleared of cancerous cells, he will undergo plastic surgery on Tuesday or Wednesday, it said.

Doctors will move some skin from an adjacent area to cover the scar left by the surgery.

The senator expects to head back to Capitol Hill next week. He'll likely have stitches.

Melanoma affects more than 53,000 Americans every year and kills about 7,000. It is usually contracted by fair-skinned people and is caused by exposure to the sun.

NBC News quoted a dermatologist not involved in McCain's case as saying because the lesion apparently was caught early the outlook was considered excellent.

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