McCain skin biopsy negative for cancer: clinic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A biopsy conducted on skin taken from the face of U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain showed no skin cancer, medical authorities said on Tuesday.

McCain, who has suffered from skin cancer in the past, had a spot removed from his face during a routine checkup in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Monday and had it checked to ensure it was not cancerous.

"The biopsy that was performed did not show any evidence of skin cancer," said Michael Yardley, a spokesman for the Mayo Clinic. "No further treatment is necessary."

The spot, visible on the Arizona senator's face and not covered by a bandage, appeared to be about the size of a small coin.

McCain, who turns 72 in August, has had four malignant melanomas -- a potentially lethal type of skin cancer -- surgically removed since 1993. Three of them were limited to the top layers of the skin and were not invasive.

The fourth melanoma, removed from his left temple in 2000, was invasive. During that surgery, doctors also took out lymph nodes to see if the cancer had spread. The lymph nodes showed no evidence of cancer.

(Editing by Peter Cooney)