When Jimmy Carter said Sunday that he no longer needed to get treatment for cancer, it was good news on every front.

Still … The former president might have to give up one of his guaranteed laugh lines as a result.

Ever since Carter told the world he had cancer, he's been admirably transparent about his condition and treatment — including his supposed tongue-tiedness when it comes to the name of the cutting edge immunotherapy drug he began taking last August.

It’s called “pembrolizumab.” Or, as Carter put it at his annual Town Hall meeting with Emory freshman last fall:

"It's called 'pembro-laza…lizu-mab … I've almost learned how to say it," Carter grinned broadly as many of the 1,300 students packing the bleachers at the Woodruff P.E. Center laughed and cheered him on.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Cox Enterprises CEO Alex Taylor and AJC Publisher Andrew Morse were joined by AJC editors and Atlanta business react during the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in Midtown on Friday, January 24, 2025.
(Miguel Martinez/AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Featured

Austin Walters died from an overdose in 2021 after taking a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, his father said. A new law named after Austin and aimed at preventing deaths from fentanyl has resulted in its first convictions in Georgia, prosecutors said. (Family photo)

Credit: Family photo