White House Spokesman Tony Snow, a Colon Cancer Survivor, to Have Surgery

WASHINGTON, March 23 -- White House spokesman Tony Snow, who was treated for colon cancer in 2005, said today he would have surgery on Monday to resect a growth discovered in his lower abdomen.

Speaking at his daily White House press briefing, Snow offered only sketchy details and cautioned reporters against "jumping to conclusions." Noninvasive tests indicted the growth was "negative," he said, but because of his cancer history the procedure he said was being done "out of an aggressive sense of caution."

Other scans and blood tests did not indicate a return of his cancer, Snow said. He predicted his recovery from the surgery would take several weeks.

Snow was treated with six months of adjuvant chemotherapy in 2005. He took the White House job a year ago.