Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, 90, announced Wednesday that he has been diagnosed with cancer that has spread throughout his body.
The announcement came nine days after elective surgery at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta to remove a “small mass” from his liver.
“I will be rearranging my schedule as necessary so I can undergo treatment,” Carter said in a statement. “A more complete public statement will be made when facts are known, possibly next week.”
The disease is one that is prevalent in the former president’s family of origin; his father and three siblings all died of pancreatic cancer, which his mother also had.
In a phone call on Wednesday, President Barack Obama wished Carter a quick recovery.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Rosalynn and the entire Carter family as they face this challenge with the same grace and determination that they have shown so many times before,” Obama said in a statement. “Jimmy, you’re as resilient as they come, and along with the rest of America, we are rooting for you.”
Carter left the White House in 1981 but has remained extremely active in American foreign policy regardless of who occupied the Oval Office following his own administration.
In 1982 the former president helped found the nonprofit Carter Center, a human rights organization that furthers his activity as a global mediator, among other things.
Carter has been particularly active in advocating for the establishment of a new Arab country comprised of the Palestinian Authority regardless of its cost in blood to Israelis. In the past he has also been particularly fierce in his criticism of the State of Israel in advocating for Arab residents of Gaza as well.