Jimmy Carter Says He Has Cancer, Revealed by Recent Surgery

A statement released by the Carter Center on Wednesday makes clear that Carter's cancer is widely spread but not where it originated, or even if that is known at this point. The liver is often a place where cancer spreads and less commonly known is the primary source of it. The statement said further information will be provided when more facts are known, "possibly next week."

"Recent liver surgery revealed that I have cancer that now is in other parts of my body," Associated Press cited a statement by 91-year old Carter.

"I will be rearranging my schedule as necessary so I can undergo treatment by physicians at Emory Healthcare," he added. 

Carter announced on Aug. 3 that he had surgery to remove a small mass from his liver.

Carter was the US 39th president, defeating Gerald Ford in 1976 with a pledge to always be honest.

Before his career in politics, Carter graduated from the US Naval Academy and served seven years in the Navy submarine force.

Despite remaining active through the years, Carter's health has recently become the subject of speculation. In May, he was forced to cut short an election observation visit to Guyana when he developed a bad cold.

Carter also completed a book tour this summer to promote his latest work, "A Full Life."

Carter included his family's history of pancreatic cancer in that memoir, writing that his father, brother and two sisters all died of the disease and said the trend "concerned" the former president's doctors at Emory.

"The National Institutes of Health began to check all members of our family regularly, and my last remaining sibling, Gloria, sixty-four, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died in 1990," Carter wrote. "There was no record of another American family having lost four members to this disease, and since that time I have had regular X-rays, CAT scans, or blood analyses, with hope of early detection if I develop the same symptoms."

Carter wrote that being the only nonsmoker in his family "may have been what led to my longer life."

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to President Carter," said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

"There's a lot we don't know," but the first task likely will be determining where the cancer originated, as that can help determine what treatment he may be eligible for, Lichtenfeld said. Sometimes the primary site can't be determined, so genetic analysis of the tumor might be done to see what mutations are driving it and what drugs might target those mutations.

"Given the president's age, any treatments, their potential and their impacts, will undoubtedly be discussed carefully with him and his family," he added.