Tissue Test: Reagan Cancer-Free
The small polyp removed Friday from President Reagan’s colon was benign, and the President remains free of cancer and in “excellent health” more than three years after major surgery for colon cancer, the White House said Saturday.
“No further examinations or tests are required,” White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said in a written statement. “The President is in excellent health.”
Both Reagan and his wife, First Lady Nancy Reagan, underwent their annual physical examinations at Bethesda Naval Medical Center on Friday, during which doctors removed a tiny amount of tissue--about 1 to 2 millimeters and located about 120 centimeters inside the colon--from the President.
“The pathological diagnosis of the specimen, taken from the transverse colon, showed the tissue to be a benign adenomatous (tumor of glandular origin) polyp,” Fitzwater said.
The examination included a colonoscopy, Reagan’s sixth, a procedure that looks for growths in the large intestine, as well as a CAT scan, X-rays and pulmonary function tests.
On July 13, 1985, a 2-inch malignant growth and 2 feet of the President’s lower intestine were removed. Since then, Reagan has undergone regular colonoscopies. Although some polyps have been removed, none has been found to be cancerous.
Mrs. Reagan, whose cancerous left breast was removed in October, 1987, underwent a mammogram Friday, which showed no recurrence of cancer.
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