Jimmy Carter: 'Cancer is gone'

He received radiation therapy and doses of a newly approved drug to help his immune system seek out cancer cells.

Former President Jimmy Carter announced that he is "cancer-free" after undergoing treatment for melanoma, which spread to his liver and his brain. A later MRI however revealed that Carter had cancer growths in his brain as well in four places.

In a written statement, the former president, who is famous for his unassuming style, confirmed his latest scans did not reveal any cancer. Doctors saw no cancer in his brain when he went into the hospital for an MRI earlier that week. It is unclear if pembrolizumab was responsible for ridding the cancerous cells in Carter, as the drug is too new to know if its effects are consistent and repeatable. Carter is devoutly religious and continued to teach classes at the church even after news of his original cancer diagnosis had sunk in.

"Our prayers have been answered", she said. "But we now have to rethink this because Jimmy Carter's case shows is that there are obviously patients who can tolerate the treatment and survive", neurosurgeon Dr. Lee M. Tessler tells Newsmax Health. "I haven't been uncomfortable or ill after the treatments were over".

During his treatment, Carter volunteered on a building project with Habitat for Humanity and was also involved with work at The Carter Center, the human rights organization that he founded after leaving the White House. "The best Christmas present we could ever receive". Subsequent testing showed that it was a form of melanoma, which had spread to four spots in his brain. People from around the country had been coming to see him preach after the news of his cancer was made public. And hopes he can be the oldest living president in history. Ga., according to the Associated Press.