[JPhillips]

Add Tony Snow to the list of recurrences. I'm not a doctor, so I don't know how serious this is, but when my Dad's cancer went to his liver it was the beginning of the end. Here's hoping both he and Elizabeth Edwards can beat the odds.

From the WA Post:

Tests Show Snow's Cancer Has Returned

By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 27, 2007; 10:54 AM

White House press secretary Tony Snow, who has become the face of the Bush presidency over the last year, has cancer again.

Snow's deputy, Dana M. Perino, broke into tears at an off-camera briefing this morning as she announced that the cancer has spread to his liver. Doctors discovered it when they operated on Snow on Monday to remove a small growth that had developed in his lower abdomen.

Snow, 51, who underwent surgery and months of chemotherapy for colon cancer two years ago, plans once again to "go after it as aggressively" as he can, Perino said, but it was unclear when or whether he would be able to return to work.

"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."

A former Fox News television and radio host, Snow joined the White House last year and quickly became one of its most prominent figures, jousting with reporters at the daily televised briefing and, in a departure for a presidential press secretary, even headlining Republican fundraisers during the midterm election campaign last fall. He has been credited by colleagues with presenting a more vigorous public defense of an embattled president while maintaining collegial relations with reporters.

Snow has been open about his past battle with cancer. He constantly wears a yellow wristband that marks him as a cancer survivor, and he teared up at his first briefing from the White House podium last year when recounting his experience and what it meant to him. Just last week, when Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of Democratic presidential contender John Edwards, announced that her own cancer had returned, Snow offered effusive praise for the dignity and optimism she exhibited.

"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 said from the podium. "She's being aggressive. She's living an active life. And a positive attitude, prayers, and people you love are always a very good addition to any kind of medicine you have. So for Elizabeth Edwards, good going. Our prayers are with you."

Snow announced the discovery of the small growth in his own lower abdomen the next day, but it had not sparked great concern at first in the White House because other tests had come back negative for cancer. He said at a briefing that day that he decided to have surgery anyway "out of an aggressive sense of caution."

The White House got a clue that the operation yesterday had not turned out well when doctors postponed giving Snow's colleagues a full report. By last night, the White House could tell reporters only that Snow was "resting comfortably."

Snow called President Bush shortly after 7 a.m. today to tell him the results of the operation, then called Perino just before she went to the briefing room for her 9:30 a.m. informal briefing called a "gaggle."

Perino began crying almost from the beginning. After taking several questions on Snow's condition, she asked reporters if she could respond to other news of the day at her 12:30 p.m. briefing.

"It was hard news for us," she said. "I didn't cry until this moment."

She said Snow was up walking around and reported feeling fine.

"He was in very good spirits," she said. "He was trying to help me with some talking points." Reporters laughed and asked if he provided talking points on his own condition.

"This and other things," she said. "He's fired up on the supplemental," the emergency war spending bill that Bush and Congress are fighting over.

She also forwarded a message from Snow to his tormenters in the briefing room. "He said, 'Tell them not to bug me,'" she recounted.