Five polyps removed from President George W. Bush during a weekend colon check came back negative for cancer, said White House spokesman Tony Snow, who on Monday pronounced the US leader to be in "good health."
"The president is in good health. There is no reason for alarm. A fairly routine diagnosis and also procedure. And, again, he will next get a colonoscopy three years hence," said Snow.
The five growths were found to be tubular adenoma -- "a garden-variety polyp" -- but a rule of thumb is that finding more than three polyps means undergoing such check-ups every three years, he said.
"When you have the growth of polyps you want to just be very careful to keep your eye on what develops so that the patient, in fact, does not get into a position when you have to worry about it," said Snow.
The 61-year-old president, who has twice before had non-cancerous growths removed from his colon, underwent a colonoscopy on Saturday, temporarily handing power to Vice President Dick Cheney.
