WASHINGTON — A biopsy of a small patch of skin removed from Republican Sen. John McCain's right cheek showed no evidence of skin cancer, doctors said yesterday.

The GOP nominee-in-waiting had the skin removed Monday as a precaution during a regular checkup with his dermatologist near Phoenix.

The Arizona senator, who suffered severe sun damage from his 5 1/2 years in Vietnamese prison camps, gets a skin cancer check every few months because of a medical history of dangerous melanomas. He has survived three bouts of melanoma that included four lesions.