BEIJING,
Dec. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. First Lady Laura Bush said cancer is not a big deal
as the White House defended her decision not to disclose she had a skin
cancer tumor removed early November.
She told Bob Shieffer on CBS "Face the Nation"
Sunday, "it's no big deal, we knew it wasn't a big deal at the
time."
"Actually it never occurred to me to make it public," she
added, "It was very minor."
Laura said she had tumor removed after the recent
congress election and hoped the publicity surrounding her ordeal would
prompt people to pay closer attention to possible signs of cancer.
Presidential spokesman Tony Snow the first
lady "got the same right to medical privacy" as her husband.
More than one million cases of basal and squamous
cell skin cancers are diagnosed annually in U.S., according to the American
Cancer Society, which says most but not all are highly curable.
Laura blamed the cancer on the hot west Texas sun and
her fair complexion.
Austrian researchers found that Marathon runners have
higher chances of developing melanoma and the main reason is that during
training and competition, the runners are exposed to high levels of ultraviolet
radiation, the most important environmental risk factor for melanoma.
(Agencies)
