John McCain's Cancer

It's impolite to talk about cancer.

That's about the best reason I can think of to explain why John McCain's stage IIA (or is it IIIB?) melanoma isn't the subject of every political chatterbox show on cable news. It certainly isn't because McCain has ever come clean and settled the many unanswered questions on the subject. Or because the medical community has weighed in and found the chances of recurrence to be negligible.

Far from it. The fact is that John McCain's health is the most underreported, underdebated, and underappreciated risk factor in a potential McCain presidency. Sure, his age comes up all the time on TV and at the water cooler, usually in the context of a joke. If age alone were McCain's biggest health risk, I'd be the first in line to give him a pass and move on to more pressing issues. But his age is only an aggravating factor in a disturbing medical history whose records run 1,173 pages long. And because McCain has simply refused to divulge that history, we're not talking about it.

Of course, the McCain campaign would respond that they have indeed released the candidate's medical records, in full, back in May. To that, Frank Rich's New York Times column this Saturday provides a better response than I could ever hope to muster:

"The twin-pronged strategy of truculence and propaganda that sold Bush and his war could yet work for McCain....John McCain's full medical records, our sole index to the odds of an imminent Palin presidency, also remain locked away. The McCain campaign instead invited 20 chosen reporters to speed-read through 1,173 pages of medical history for a mere three hours on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. No photocopying was permitted.....This is the same tactic of selective document release that the Bush White House used to bamboozle Congress and the press about Saddam's nonexistent W.M.D."

Simply put, there has been no release of John McCain's medical records, only a media stunt. Unfortunately, a number of news organizations (notably excepting The Times) took the bait hook, line and sinker, pretending that 20-odd crack reporters were able to sift through close to 400 pages per hour per person and issue a clean bill of health. As a consequence, we're no longer talking about an issue that trumps every one of the important questions about policy, judgment and experience that define the public discussion about John McCain.

The truth is more complicated than the facile conclusions reached by that handful of sanguine journalists locked in a room in Scottsdale, and far more portentous. The most straightforward reason why a full release of McCain's medical records is imperative to determining what the real risk is of his history of recurrent cancer is that there are in fact two conflicting reports from 2000 of the status of McCain's melanoma: one from the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, and one from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (the "gold standard" of pathology, according to a melanoma specialist at UCLA). The Mayo Clinic doctors concluded eight years ago that the lesion on McCain's temple was a stage IIA melanoma. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology determined that the same lesion was possibly two distinct melanomas, which would indicate an incidence of metastases, which implies a significantly more advanced stage of cancer.

To put that in terms of McCain's projected mortality during a McCain presidency, the respective 5- and 10-year survival rates for a stage IIA melanoma for a 72 year-old man are 79% and 64%. If the melanoma is in stage IIIB, which is what the possible satellite metastases suggest, the 5- and 10-year rates are 53% and 38%, respectively (McCain is now eight years into that projection). How likely is it that the melanoma is at stage IIIB rather than IIA? It's impossible to say without reviewing the medical records.

Over 2,300 doctors have signed an open letter entitled "John McCain's Health Records Must Be Released." That includes dozens of oncologists and melanoma specialists. If these medical professionals are sufficiently concerned about this issue to put their professional reputations behind this clear public statement, shouldn't the rest of us be at least a little bit worried?

Follow Leighton Woodhouse on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lwoodhouse

Comments

[daisy17]

i don't think cancer is the issue, i think it's alzheimers- and what if he is taking drugs for alzheimers
and that's why he isn't releasing the records.
i think his age and his confusion lately--and the fact that he never is without a handler-
speak to the issue.
i want to know- what is his health?- and is he fit to serve four years?-
if he is elected, are we to jsut assume we are electing sarah palin, who isnow a student of kissenger and who knows what other "experts".
she certainly has no thoughts or expereince on her own-
so we need to know about McCains health now, before it's too late

[oldfart1]

It could be a toss-up, cancer or Alzheimer's, or both. I suggest that Predictamarket establish a pool , on whether he'll still be intact next year. What odds will the Reps give with their own (stolen or hard-earned, they don't make much of a distinction) money? I bet the odds would be around 3 to 1 - not very good for President.

[athenasword]

If not Alzheimers, he could indeed be suffering another form of dementia. The medications list would be illuminating.

[DieHardObamaSupporter]

Two words: Full Disclosure

[seanseamour]

The press and many others have been coy on addressing this issue which is compounded by worries regarding severe mental health worries that have gone all the way to early Alzheimers. From his rewriting of world geography (i.e. Irak / Pakistan shared borders... ) to the scandalous mistake with the journalist from Spain last week - to think that McCain going into an interview to which he was obligatorily prepped as you do not speak to a journalist without topical and background information provided by an aid) - to not recognize the name of the head of state, nor realize that Spain is not a Latin American country is frightening.
At his age neither health issues cannot be taken lightly, we cannot have a President incapacitated with a VP totally unable to assume his function, but
let's broaden our scope and think why are the neoconservatives so excited by Palin -- perhaps they see her moving into the oval office in less that four years?
Buzz this up to embolden those who can request transparency on an issue of national security

[BeltwayBette]

FYI:
Hundreds of doctors and Americans are now signing a petition asking that Sen. McCain and his campaign release his medical records sans the many limitations they imposed on our free press in his shameless media stunt recently.

To add your name to the petition, see:

http://therealmccain.com/doctors/?utm_source=rgemail


"The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology determined that the same lesion was possibly two distinct melanomas, which would indicate an incidence of metastases, which implies a significantly more advanced stage of cancer." above author...

METASTASTIS IS THE WORD to underline here,. It usually means "not much time left."
ASK YOURSELF: WOULD YOU VOTE FOR "Bomb,bomb,bomb Russia" PALIN FOR PRESIDENT?
Another veteran for Obama/Bidn and our nation's security

[Annsa]

Finally, somene is taking notice about Mr Cain's melanoma. As a registered nurse, previous oncology nurse, I have seen patient's melanoma come back after 8 or 10 years. It comes back in the lung or in other vital organs and usually deadly. Mr Cain is only 5-8 years from his last melanoma removal, he is not out of the woods. If his melanoma comes back and he is President, Palin will be in charge or the President during these terrible times. Mc Cain's melanoma recurrance needs to be looked into and discussed daily. AH

[seanseamour]

Please everyone concerned, BUZZ it up

[bwilder]

"300 pages per hour"
Closer to 400 pages per hour and unless you understand medical abbreviations
and terms- good luck with that!

This is such a HUGE factor and should be a HUGE issue. It's simply beyond me why it
isn't being pushed by the media and the voters. We are the employers after all, and hiring
a president is the most critical thing we do every four years. Would I hire someone I knew
was at serious risk of becoming seriously ill or dying during that four years? Uh, no, no I wouldn't.

Add Palin to the mix and the possibility of her having to step in for her dead or dying partner- and
HELL NO !! I would not hire McCain, wouldn't even set up an interview.

[Leighton Woodhouse - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks -- you're right about the math. Updated.

[seanseamour]

Please everyone concerned, BUZZ it up

[RickO]

Last night on 60 Minutes, McCain said emphatically that he chose Palin because she was the "best for America" and that she was absolutely ready to be president. I think we need to know more about his menatl health too.

[krocklin]

McCain can lie better than Bush. His political instincts tell him which position he SHOULD take AT THE MOMENT and then he knows how to impersonate someone with conviction and principle, of which he has none.

[juzcuz]

McBush's monotonous voice and body shows a DEAD MAN WALKING.

[TexanJane]

I've been calling for this in comment after comment on various blog sites.

The moment McCain tapped Palin his health became an even more important issue.

As the weeks have passed and we've seen how dramatically in-over-her-head she is as a national leader - and potential world leader - the call for McCain's medical records should have been above the fold of every major newspaper in the country.

If the MSM anchors won't touch it, at least the guests on their shows should.

Now.

[MPeter]

This is a story that needs to be told. I often wonder why the Left is not as vocal as the right; why we are always too quick to bury stories, move on or simply let the braying Right cloud the airwaves with their noise. We need to push this one harder!!!

[Tubby]

Sure, go ahead and dump on McCain for his age! (That's what it's going to come across as, not his potential for lethal cancer.) Go ahead and piss off every grayhead in America!

[peloquin]

The hell with the elderly if they don't like it. If they can't come to the same conclusion that Palin has no business running this country, via McCain's death, then screw them.

[andriadoria]

This is grayhead again ,, and i couldn't agree with you more!!!

[andriadoria]

Hey !! I am a grayhead and I would not want some one my age running this country..that is why I support Obama. He is young , energetic, fresh , great health.. ..he is up for the challange!!!!

[quadman]

And he smokes and has been for over 20 years. Last time I checked, smoking was the leading cause of lung cancer, far outpacing all other forms of lung cancer. The lag between smoking and the onset of lung cancer is about 20 years. BHO is at a drastically increased risk for developing cancer, yet this is not even mentioned.

McCain was declared cancer free 8 years ago. This arguement is pointless.

[Leighton Woodhouse - Huffpost Blogger]

Not sure I agree -- there's a lot of seniors who are going to be even more concerned about this than others, because they recognize themselves the limitations that come with age. But anyway, this is not about age, it's about the risk of recurrence of cancer.

[jcrush]

If Joe Biden had cancer it would be on a 24 hour crawler across the bottom of Fox News. If Obama had cheated on Michelle he would have been interviewed by every family based talk show host the repubs could find. If Joe Biden was under investigation it would be on Fox News more than Rev Wright. If Michelle Obama was a recovering drug addict, they wouldn't have made it past Super Tuesday. I know if we lose this election, it better not be because we didn't pull out every stop. If we didn't learn from 2004, we deserve a Palin-McCain administration.

[MPeter]

I think we need to push this. MSM is complicit in the McCain and Republican lies. They have already burried the story. McCain would not even complete his first term. Plain, the inexperienced lactating mother of five would become Prez!