Course of Snow’s cancer uncertain

White House press secretary Tony Snow’s recurrence of cancer isn’t necessarily a death sentence, and he may be able to live with it indefinitely, medical experts said Tuesday.

Chemotherapy and proper medication can make living with the disease manageable.

“It’s certainly not: ‘Quit your job, get the affairs in order and say goodbye to the relatives in the next six months,’ ” said Elliot Newman, chief of gastrointestinal cancer surgery at the New York University Cancer Institute and School of Medicine. “If he gets the right kind of chemotherapy, he could have a good quality of life and work again and, hopefully, keep it in check.”

The White House announced Tuesday that Snow’s cancer had returned and spread to his liver. Snow, 51, had a cancerous growth removed from his lower abdomen Monday, when doctors discovered that it was malignant and had spread.

Snow’s colon was removed two years ago after it was found to be cancerous, and he underwent six months of chemotherapy.

He informed President Bush of his condition by telephone early Tuesday from his hospital bed.

“He said he’s going to be going after it as aggressively as he can,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters, sobbing. “It’s very hard for us at the White House. We know that you love him, too, but it was hard news for us.”

Through Perino, Snow said that he would decline to share details about his course of treatment until he had more information.

“His attitude is, one, that he is not going to let this whip him, and he’s upbeat,” Bush told reporters in the White House Rose Garden. “My attitude is that we need to pray for him and for his family.”

About 15,760 Americans will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer this year, and 52,000 will die of the disease, according to the National Cancer Institute. In about half of colon cancer patients, the disease will spread to the liver.

Perino said that she thought Snow intended to return but that she didn’t know when.

Snow and his wife, Jill Snow, have three children, ages 10, 11 and 14.
Surgery plans undisclosed

WASHINGTON | Just last Thursday, Tony Snow was talking emotionally from the White House podium about beating cancer.

He lauded Elizabeth Edwards, wife of presidential contender John Edwards, for her upbeat attitude upon learning that her breast cancer had returned in a treatable but incurable form.

What hardly anyone knew then was that Snow, only a two-year survivor of cancer himself, was being scheduled for surgery to remove a suspicious growth. He would soon find out that he, too, would have to go another round against the often-deadly disease.

“The biggest problem you have a lot of times with cancer is just flat-out fear,” he said Friday after announcing his surgery. “And when you’re seeing Elizabeth Edwards saying, ‘I’m going to embrace life and I’m going to move forward,’ that is a wonderful thing.”

John Edwards said Tuesday: “Tony has been an incredible example for people living with cancer and cancer survivors.”


source:www.kansascity.com