Jimmy Carter Says His Cancer is Gone

Former President Jimmy Carter announced on Sunday that his cancer is gone. In a statement released through the Carter Center, he said his most recent MRI brain scan did not reveal any signs of the original cancer spots nor any new ones.

Earlier in the day, Carter told a Sunday school class he was teaching in Plains the good news, a fellow church member told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

“The church, everybody here, just erupted in applause,” the church member Jill Stuckey told the AJC.

Carter, 91, was diagnosed with cancer in August after having surgery to remove a lesion on his liver. After having the surgery, Carter announced that the cancer had spread to other parts of his body. Doctors had found melanoma lesions on his brain.

He announced that he would significantly cut back on his schedule while undergoing treatment for his diagnosis.

Soon after news broke that Carter was cancer free, his grandson James Carter tweeted ”Victory.”

In November, the Carter Center issued an update on the former president’s health, saying he had received good news from his doctors. Recent tests had shown there was no new evidence of malignancy and he was responding well to treatment.

Carter will continue to receive regular three-week treatments.

Referred to as the most publicly active former U.S. president, he is known worldwide for his philanthropic efforts. In 1984, he started the Carter Center to advance human rights worldwide, focused, as its website points out, on resolving violent conflicts, advancing democracy and human rights, preventing diseases, and improving mental health care.

He is also involved with Habitat for Humanity, along with his wife Rosalynn.

A Nobel Peace Prize laureate for his “decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development,” Carter is the second-oldest living president, behind George H.W. Bush.

This story will be updated.