Former US President Joe Biden recently underwent skin cancer surgery, his spokeswoman said.

Biden had Mohs surgery, she told the BBC's US partner CBS News, but did not immediately provide further details.

The procedure is used to cut away skin until no evidence of cancer remains.

The 82-year-old had been spotted with a wound on the right side of his head in recent days.

In 2023, Biden had a cancerous skin lesion removed from his chest during a routine health screening.

In May, he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.

"Cancer touches us all," Biden wrote on social media at the time. "Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places."

Biden also had several non-melanoma skin cancers removed in the past, before he became president.

He has largely retreated from the public eye since leaving the White House in January and has made few public appearances.

The Bidens have long been strong advocates for fighting and curing cancer. Their adult son, Beau, died in 2015 from brain cancer.