McCain home from hospital after cancer surgery

PHOENIX (CNN) -- Arizona Sen. John McCain was released from a hospital Monday following surgery to remove two occurrences of skin cancer over the weekend.

A spokesman for the former GOP presidential contender said McCain was "home and resting comfortably" Monday afternoon. Doctors said Sunday that the surgery, performed to remove malignancies on his left arm and temple, successfully removed all of the cancerous tissue in the affected sites.

Sen. McCain's wife, Cindy, right, listens as McCain's internist Dr. John D. Eckstein addresses the media following successful surgery to remove two occurances of skin cancer from the the senator, Saturday in Scottsdale, Arizona

Preliminary analysis of lymph node tissue removed during the surgery showed no evidence of cancer cells, the 63-year-old senator's personal physician said Saturday.

McCain was in surgery for five and a half hours Saturday at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, a Phoenix suburb. His doctors said the growths on his body were separate and distinct, indicating the cancer had not spread; and McCain himself said he was confident of making a full recovery.

It is McCain's second bout with skin cancer. He had a melanoma removed from his shoulder in 1993, and doctors say the recent diagnosis was unrelated to that occurrence.

Melanoma is a disease of the skin in which cancerous cells derive from melanin, or the cells that give skin its color, according to the National Cancer Institute. It is the most serious form of skin cancer, claiming 7,700 lives in the United States each year. It can quickly spread to other parts of the body.

McCain has received thousands of calls from well-wishers since news of his condition emerged last week, his wife, Cindy, said.

"I have said many prayers this week, as you can well imagine, and I stand here before you to tell you that all of my prayers have been answered," she said Saturday. "My husband is in wonderful shape."