Republican presidential candidate John McCain - who has survived three bouts of melanoma - is cancer-free, has a strong heart and is in otherwise general good health, according to eight years of medical records released today.
However, the Arizona Senator remains at risk for developing new skin cancers, and gets a thorough check by a Mayo Clinic dermatologist every few months.
"I do not see any worrisome lesions," Dr Suzanne Connolly concluded after Mr McCain's most recent examination, on May 12th.
Republican Senator John McCain
The details of Mr McCain's health are contained in 1,173 pages of medical documents spanning 2000 to 2008 that his campaign made available to the pres to make the case that he's healthy enough to serve as president, as well as to counter the notion that he's too old. He will turn 72 in August and would be the oldest elected first-term president.
Like many aging Americans, Mr McCain takes medicine to keep his cholesterol in check.
Mr McCain's most recent exams show a range of health issues common in aging: He frequently has precancerous skin lesions removed, and in February had an early stage squamous cell carcinoma, an easily cured skin cancer, removed. He had benign colon growths called polyps taken out during a routine colonoscopy in March.
The Vietnam veteran has degenerative arthritis from war injuries that might mean a future joint replacement. His blood pressure and weight were healthy, and his cholesterol good but not optimal.
It is Mr McCain's three bouts of melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, that raise the biggest health concerns. He has had four separate spots of melanoma removed from his head and arm on three occasions - in 1993, 2000 and 2002. Three spots were very early stage, when they were in the uppermost skin surface and easily cut out.
But one, on his left temple in 2000, was invasive melanoma, what doctors call an "intermediate risk" melanoma because of its thickness. Mr McCain required delicate surgery to remove and examine lymph nodes that showed no sign of spread.
Early on in the primaries, a number of voters said McCain's age was a problem, but recent surveys suggest it may not be as big an issue. An ABC News-
Washington Postpoll conducted in April found 70 per cent saying Mr McCain's age would not make any difference to their vote. Other recent polls found similar results, with two-thirds or more saying his age doesn't matter.
During his first presidential run, eight years ago, Mr McCain disclosed hundreds of pages of records to reporters as he sought then to counter what aides called a "whisper campaign" questioning his mental fitness. In those records, medical personnel concluded that his years in prison, including solitary confinement, left him with no psychological wounds. Aides said Mr McCain has had no mental evaluations in the past eight years and none was included in the documents.
His likely Democratic rival, Barack Obama, will be 47 in August. Mr Obama, lean and agile and a frequent basketball player, says he has quit smoking. Neither he nor Democratic opponent Hillary Rodham Clinton has released health records.