Tony Snow’s Cancer Back, Spread to Liver

Surgery revealed White House press secretary Tony Snow’s colon cancer has returned and spread to his liver, it was revealed Tuesday.

Deputy press secretary Dana Perino cried while giving the news to the White House press corps, the Washinton Post reported. Of course, we’re pulling for Tony, Perino said. We certainly gain strength from his optimism. We know he’s going to beat it again.

President Bush released a statement saying Snow called him from the hospital Tuesday morning and he described his spokesman’s mood as upbeat.

His attitude is, one, that he is not going to let this whip him, and he’s upbeat, Bush said. My attitude is, is that we need to pray for him, and for his family.

Snow, 51, underwent surgery and chemotherapy for colon cancer two years ago and announced last week a small growth had been found in his lower abdomen and would be removed out of an aggressive sense of caution.

Perino told reporters Snow was feeling fine, gave her some advice in dealing with the press corps and sent the journalists a personal message:

He said, ‘Tell them not to bug me.’