Jimmy Carter Announces Cancer Diagnosis

According to CNBC, 90-year-old former President Jimmy Carter has cancer, which was discovered after he recently underwent a liver operation. Carter was the 39th president in American history, serving one term from 1977 to 1981. In a statement released on Wednesday, Carter announced that he'll be undergoing treatment at Emory Healthcare, in his home state of Georgia.

Recent liver surgery revealed that I have cancer that now is in other parts of my body. I will be rearranging my schedule as necessary so I can undergo treatment by physicians at Emory Healthcare.

The part about "other parts of my body" is troubling — whenever cancer spreads from a primary organ into other parts of the body, also known as metastasis, the prognosis for recovery worsens. Carter hasn't given any information as to the extent of the spread, however, so hopefully this was caught early enough for treatment to be able to restore his health. Carter also promised another statement next week, "when the facts are known." Carter underwent the surgery on Aug. 3, aimed at removing a "small mass," from his liver, according to USA Today, and that was when the cancer diagnosis was confirmed.

Carter is our second-oldest living president, narrowly edged out by former President George H.W. Bush, who's 91 years old. He's the only living president to have served in the 1970s, and he's had perhaps the most active, service-driven life of any modern ex-president — he's well-known for his humanitarian efforts, laboring at building homes in the United States and foreign nations alike, via Habitat for Humanity. His memoir, titled A Full Life: Reflections At 90 was released in July, and it's currently on The New York Times' best seller list.

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