Former US President Joe Biden has undergone surgery to remove skin cancer, his spokeswoman confirmed. The 82-year-old had Mohs surgery, a procedure that removes cancerous tissue layer by layer until no trace remains, BBC reported.

Biden, who was recently seen with a wound on the right side of his head, has a history of skin cancers. Last year, doctors removed a cancerous lesion from his chest, and in May he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. He has also had several non-melanoma skin cancers treated in the past.

Since leaving office in January, Biden has kept a low public profile. He and his wife Jill have long championed cancer research, a cause deeply personal to them following the death of their son Beau from brain cancer in 2015, according to BBC.