Carter made the announcement to a crowded Sunday School class he was teaching at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, garnering a standing ovation from hundreds of people in the room.
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Former President Jimmy Carter told his congregation on Sunday that his cancer is gone, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Carter had been taking a newly-approved cancer drug called Keytruda along with the standard radiation treatment, and will continue to take doses of the drug every three weeks while doctors continue to scan his body for new cancer cells.
The 91-year-old Nobel Peace Laureate and global humanitarian recently had a tumour removed from his liver, only to find four melanoma spots on his brain.
Even among patients receiving advanced treatment, Carter’s apparent total remission is a rarity. “Dr. William Coley, pioneer of cancer immunotherapy, noticed that cancer patients who got infections after surgery had better outcomes compared to those that did not get sick”.
Carter’s grandson, James Carter, also confirmed that his cancer was gone. Instead, they may say things like, “The cancer can’t be seen on the scan” or “I see no evidence of any cancer”.
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“It’s like getting the biggest Christmas gift that you could ever want”, said Jan Williams, another close Carter friend who spends the hour before Carter’s class humorously instructing visitors on the do’s-and-don’ts of being around their famous teacher. He seemed resigned and said that he was at ease with his potential death. “There are still many patients with melanoma who don’t have this outcome”, said Lichtenfeld. “So that part of it has been a relief to me and I think to the doctors”. “This was just wonderful news out of the blue”.
