US:The White House yesterday defended Laura Bush's decision not to disclose she had a skin cancer tumour removed from her right shin last month.
Unlike her husband, Ms Bush 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 small coin. Ms Bush decided the cancer was a private matter and did not disclose it publicly.
On Monday night, the White House acknowledged the first lady had the tumour removed after Ms Bush was noticed with a bandage below her right knee.
Ms 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 was thin and "it takes a little while to heal".
Asked if plastic surgery might be required, Ms Whitson said, "No further procedures are needed at this point."
A squamous cell carcinoma is a tumour 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, so patients need to have lymph nodes in the region near the tumour routinely examined, according to the National Cancer Institute's website.
"I think you guys are trying to whip this up into something much larger than it is," Mr Snow told reporters who questioned why the procedure had not been disclosed earlier.