Carter on cancer fight: ‘I’m still taking treatments regularly’

Former President Carter revealed Monday that he is still battling the melanoma cancer that has plagued him since last year.

“I’m still taking treatments regularly,” he told host Brooke Anderson during an online video interview with Entertainment Tonight.

{mosads}“I’ll continue until the doctors tell me I don’t have to anymore,” the nation’s 39th chief executive continued. 

“They haven’t detected any cancer, [but] sometimes the cancer spots – including [the spot] in my brain, which is 1 mm and is a tiny little thing – [return].”

Carter announced that he is making progress fighting the illness, adding that he remains positive about his treatment plans overall.

“I’m not as fit as I used to be but I’m 91 years old now,” he quipped. “My immune system seems to be responding just fine.”

The former president additionally praised his wife for keeping his spirits high during the ongoing struggle for recovery.

“Her support has helped me through the last 69 years since we’ve been married in everything I’ve ever tried,” Jimmy Carter said of Rosalynn Carter, 88. “Of course, when I was ill and thought I might die at any time, she was there for me.

“She grieved with me and was excited with me when I found out my metabolism was responding well to treatment. We didn’t know ahead of time if it would or not.”

Carter reportedly announced he was cancer-free while speaking to a Sunday school class in his native Georgia early last month. He initially revealed his struggle with the disease last summer, noting that it began in his liver before spreading to his brain.

“Recent liver surgery revealed that I have cancer that now is in other parts of my body,” he said on Aug. 12.

Carter is the second oldest living president, behind George H.W. Bush. He served a single term in the Oval Office, from 1977 to 1981.