Colon Polyp Removed; Wife Has No Sign of Cancer : Reagan Found to Be in ‘Excellent Health’

President Reagan, after an extensive physical examination, was pronounced in “excellent health,” and First Lady Nancy Reagan remains free of breast cancer, the White House said Friday.

A small piece of tissue that appeared to be a polyp was removed from Reagan’s colon for biopsy and will be tested over the weekend, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said in a statement. “It appeared to be benign,” he said.

Polyps, which tend to occur more frequently as people grow older, generally do not cause serious symptoms but can become cancerous.

The biopsy procedure has become routine since 1985, when Reagan underwent major surgery to have a cancerous 2-inch polyp removed from his colon, along with 2 feet of his intestinal tract. That cancer was detected by a colonoscopy, in which a flexible instrument is used to allow physicians to view the inside of the lower intestinal tract.

In his examination Friday at Bethesda Naval Medical Center, Reagan underwent a colonoscopy and used “no sedation of any kind,” although the procedure is considered painful, Fitzwater said.

Mrs. Reagan, whose cancerous left breast was removed last year, had her second mammogram since the operation. Fitzwater said that the test “showed no evidence of cancer of any kind. Physical examination showed her condition was normal.”

Chest X-Ray ‘Clear’

In detailing the results of the 77-year-old President’s physical examination, Fitzwater said that his chest X-ray was “clear,” his urine samples were “normal,” his cardiovascular system was “unchanged and normal” and there was “no clinically significant change in his pulmonary condition.”

Also, a CAT scan, a computerized three-dimensional X-ray of internal organs, showed no abdominal problems, the spokesman said.

“The President’s physician, Dr. John Hutton, said that the President is in excellent health and there is no evidence of any cancer recurrence in the First Lady’s mammogram,” Fitzwater said. He quoted the doctor as saying: “The President is in remarkable physical condition.”

Earlier Friday, Fitzwater said that the President, who had skin cancers removed from his face in 1985 and 1987, was examined Thursday by three physicians and they detected no recurrence of the cancer.

The Reagans went to Camp David, Md., for the weekend after completing their four-hour stay late Friday afternoon at the medical center in suburban Maryland.

When they arrived at Bethesda, reporters asked how they felt. “Fine, fine,” they both responded.

Just before boarding a helicopter for Camp David, the President and his wife smiled and gave thumbs-up signs.