WASHINGTON • Former US president Jimmy Carter has told his church in his native Georgia state that he is free of cancer.

"When I went this week, they didn't find any cancer at all, so I have good news," Mr Carter told the crowd at Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown of Plains on Sunday, according to a video from NBC News.

In a statement later, Mr Carter confirmed that his most recent brain scan "did not reveal any signs of the original cancer spots nor any new ones".

He also said he would continue to receive regular doses of the drug pembrolizumab, a new treatment that is part of a promising class of drugs that harness the body's immune system to fight cancer.

The 91-year-old Nobel Peace Laureate and global humanitarian recently had a tumour removed from his liver, only to find four melanoma spots on his brain. He started treatment in August. A previous test showed the spots were responding to treatment, he said.

Ms Jill Stuckey, a friend of Mr Carter, told The Atlanta Journal- Constitution that he made the announcement towards the beginning of the Sunday school class he leads at his church in Plains.

"He said he got a scan this week and the cancer was gone," Ms Stuckey told the paper by phone, adding that "the church, everybody here, just erupted in applause".

According to The Atlanta Journal- Constitution, Mr Carter's grandson James responded to the news by stating: "See? I knew he wasn't really human."

Mr Carter, a one-time peanut farmer and former Georgia governor, served one term as president of the United States, from 1977 to 1981.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS