March 27 (Bloomberg) -- White House Press Secretary Tony Snow has been diagnosed with recurrence of cancer and the disease has spread to his liver, his deputy said today.

Snow, 51, who was treated for colon cancer in 2005, underwent surgery yesterday afternoon at a Washington area hospital to remove a growth in his lower abdomen that was discovered during a routine exam.

``It's a recurrence of the cancer that he thought that he had successfully dealt with in the past,'' President George W. Bush, who spoke with Snow about 7 a.m. today, said in remarks at the White House. ``His attitude is, one, that he is not going to let this whip him, and he's upbeat.''

Snow announced last week that he would be undergoing surgery to remove the growth in his lower right pelvis. He said initial tests were negative for cancer and that he was having the surgery out of ``an aggressive sense of caution.'' Snow, who lost his mother to colon cancer when he was 17, said he had been getting a checkup every 10 weeks.

Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino said the cancer recurred in generally the same area where it was discovered in 2005 and had spread to the liver and other areas in his body.

She said Snow would decline further comment until he and his doctors decide the next course of treatment. She added that while Snow seemed in good spirits when she talked with him and helped her prepare for the briefing, his message to the media and others was, ``Don't bug me. I think that included me.''

`Optimism'

Perino fought back tears as she made the announcement this morning at an off-camera briefing for reporters. ``Sorry, it's really hard for us at the White House,'' she said. ``We certainly gain strength from his optimism. He said he's going to beat it again.''

Perino will take over for Snow for the time being.

About 10 percent of all colon cancer patients whose disease has spread to the liver or other organs are still alive after five years, according to studies cited by doctors. New drugs and treatment approaches are improving those odds.

``For people who have cancer spread to the liver, the prognosis can be very difficult,'' Bryan Clary, chief of liver surgery at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, said in an interview. ``In people where the disease is clinically confined to the liver, some are candidates for very aggressive therapy.''

Clary said he does not know the specifics of Snow's case.

Treatment Options

Snow may be given a combination of treatment options including surgery, chemotherapy and new targeted biological therapies, including antibody drugs such as Genentech Inc.'s Avastin, ImClone Systems Inc.'s Erbitux or Amgen Inc.'s Vectibix, doctors say.

``The combination of surgery and systemic therapy afford a light of optimism for many,'' said Michael Choti, professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University and director of the Johns Hopkins Colon Cancer Center in Baltimore. ``Now that we're seeing more and more active drugs, we're now seeing tumors shrinking quite a bit.''

Patients whose tumors can be removed and who receive chemotherapy generally fare better than those whose tumors are inoperable, said Choti, who does not know the specifics of Snow's case.

The overall survival rate for patients with metastatic colon cancer is two years, doctors say.

Career

Snow is Bush's third press secretary and previously worked as a host on the Fox television and radio networks. Snow served as a speechwriter for Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush, from 1991 to 1993. Before that he worked as a newspaper columnist for the Detroit News and USA Today.

He was hired in the current administration in April 2006 as part of a reorganization of the president's team. In addition to his role as chief White House spokesman, Snow made appearances on behalf of Republican candidates around the country.

Snow's earlier experience with cancer colored his perspective in the White House job. On March 20 he noted that his comment the previous day about whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would remain through the rest of Bush's term prompted speculation about the Cabinet secretary's future.

``As a cancer survivor, I don't know if I'm going to be alive at the end of this term,'' Snow said. ``So when you try to put together a question about what's going to happen for the two years, you don't know.''

The day Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, announced that the breast cancer she was diagnosed with in 2004 had spread, Snow praised her decision to be candid about her situation and continue working with her husband's campaign.

``For Elizabeth Edwards, good going,'' he said at a March 22 White House briefing. ``As somebody who has been through this, Elizabeth Edwards is setting a powerful example for a lot of people, and a good and positive one.''

Snow and his wife, Jill, have three children.

To contact the reporter on this story: Roger Runningen in Washington at rrunningen@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 27, 2007 18:39 EDT