Laura Bush secretly had skin cancer tumor removed last month

White House defends skin cancer decision

By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent

22 minutes ago

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The White House on Tuesday defended Laura Bush's decision not to disclose she had a skin cancer tumor removed from her right shin in early November.

Unlike her husband, the first lady is not an elected official, presidential spokesman Tony Snow said. "Perhaps if there's something more major, this would be discussed," he said.

The cancer was a squamous cell carcinoma, the second most common form of skin cancer, said Susan Whitson, her press secretary. She said the troublesome patch was about the size of a nickel.

Mrs. Bush decided the cancer was a private matter and did not reveal it publicly. On Monday night, the White House acknowledged the first lady had the tumor removed after Mrs. Bush was noticed with a bandage below her right knee.

Whitson said the first lady was still wearing a bandage more than five weeks after the incision because the skin on that part of the leg is thin and "it takes a little while to heal." Asked if plastic surgery might be required, Whitson said, "No further procedures are needed at this point."

A squamous cell carcinoma is a tumor that affects the middle layer of the skin. It is more aggressive than basal cell cancer, the most common form of skin cancer. Squamous cell cancer is more likely than basal cell cancer to spread to other locations, so patients need to have lymph nodes in the region near the tumor routinely examined, according to the National Cancer Institute's Web site.

"I think you guys are trying to whip this up into something much larger than it is," Snow told reporters who questioned why the procedure had not been revealed earlier.

He said that while President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney make medical disclosures, "Other members of the family, not being elected, do not do so, and have not done so in prior administrations, and are not likely to do so."

But there is a history of some public disclosure of health problems involving the first lady. Nancy Reagan in 1987 revealed that she had breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy. Betty Ford checked herself into a treatment facility for drug and alcohol addiction after leaving the White House and later wrote about her dependence.

More than 1 million cases of basal and squamous cell skin cancers are diagnosed annually, according to the American Cancer Society, which says that most but not all of these forms of skin cancer are highly curable.

Explaining why the procedure was not disclosed until now, Whitson said, "This medical procedure was a private matter for Mrs. Bush, but when asked by the media today, we answered the question."

The first lady was noted wearing a bandage on her right leg before the election. At the time Whitson said Mrs. Bush had a sore on her shin.

In late October, Mrs. Bush had a biopsy because the sore was not healing, Whitson said, and it was determined to be a squamous cell carcinoma.

Whitson said Mrs. Bush's tumor was removed under a local anesthetic. She called it "a little surgical procedure. It's no big deal. She detected it early. She caught it early." No further treatment was needed.

Whitson said the patch became a matter of concern just before Election Day, Nov. 7.

"It's healing fine and it has not interrupted her schedule at all," Whitson said. In the same month she had the operation, Mrs. Bush accompanied her husband on a trip to Singapore and Vietnam.

In 2001, President Bush had four lesions removed from his face, including two caused by a common skin ailment that can lead to cancer if left untreated. None of the four were cancerous, the White House said.

People with fair skin and prolonged sun exposure are more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma, and it is more common in the southern latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Mrs. Bush is from Texas.

Squamous cell carcinoma shouldn't be confused with melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer. Together, basal and squamous cell carcinoma are responsible for less than 0.1 percent of cancer deaths, while the American Cancer Society estimates almost 8,000 Americans will die from melanoma this year.

Monday's revelation was the second case this year of a belated White House announcement. In February, the White House waited almost a day before disclosing that Vice President Dick Cheney had shot a fellow hunter during a quail-hunting trip.