Joe Biden had a cancerous lesion removed: 7 facts about it

The growth was detected during President Joe Biden's routine exam.

A routine check-up of US President Joe Biden revealed that he had a cancerous growth, which was successfully removed in February, his physician said on March 3.

The lesion was found to be basal cell carcinoma, that is much less harmful as compared to skin cancers like squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma.

Here are seven things to know about the slow-growing cancer: 

- Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common and prevalent type of skin cancer, according to the New York-based Skin Cancer Foundation. Just within the United States, 3.6 million cases are detected every year.

- It is an abnormal growth of basal cells, which form the top layer of the skin.

- BCC is commonly caused by UV rays and indoor tanning, and so, is commonly found in the body's sun-exposed regions.

Lesion removed from Joe Biden's chest was cancerous says White House doctor

- The cancerous growth can look like scars, open sores or red patches.

- BCC rarely spreads beyond its area of occurrence and is mostly not life-threatening. However, timely detection and treatment is necessary to ensure the cancer doesn't penetrate deeper into the skin.

-  BCC lesions need to be excised, but a patient will usually not require hospitalisation for this. The procedure can be done with a local anesthetic with very less pain. In most cases, the wound left behind heals on its own and causes very little scarring.

- BCCs is mostly detected in people over 50. Fair-skinned people are more at risk from this cancer. Gender-wise, men are more likely to develop this.