Aug. 12--Former President Carter has cancer that has spread to multiple parts of his body, he announced Wednesday.
"I will be rearranging my schedule as necessary so I can undergo treatment by physicians at Emory Healthcare" in Atlanta, Carter said in a brief statement through his nonprofit, the Carter Center. "A more complete public statement will be made when facts are known, possibly next week."
The cancer was discovered after an Aug. 3 surgery in Atlanta to remove a mass from the 39th president's liver. The Carter Center said last week that the procedure went smoothly and that his prognosis for a full recovery was "excellent."
Carter, 90, has largely been in good health through old age. In May, he fell ill during a trip to Guyana to observe elections there.
The Democrat from Plains, Ga., whose full name is James Earl Carter Jr., is the second-oldest living president after George H.W. Bush, 91.
Carter was president from January 1977 to January 1981. In 1980, he lost his bid for reelection to Ronald Reagan. Carter has promoted democracy and human rights abroad since leaving office, and won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize.
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UPDATES
2:38 p.m.: This article was updated with Los Angeles Times staff reporting.
An Associated Press report was originally published at 2:02 p.m.
