Tests indicate the cancer has spread to Snow’s liver and other parts of his body. He previously suffered from colon cancer but had been cancer-free for two years.

President Bush said he would pray for Snow and urged Americans to do the same.

“His attitude is, one, that he is not going to let this whip him, and he’s upbeat,” Bush said. “My attitude is that we need to pray for him, and for his family.”

Snow told reporters Friday that he would leave work to undergo surgery, adding he would seek to get a small growth in his abdominal area removed. However, he indicated last week that the mass was expected to be benign.

Democrats joined Bush in wishing Snow well.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) praised the spokesman on the Senate floor Tuesday, adding that he hoped and prayed Snow would again be able to beat the cancer.

Snow’s diagnosis came less than a week after Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards announced his wife Elizabeth’s cancer had returned. Edwards issued a statement saying his prayers were with Snow and called him “an incredible example for people living with cancer and cancer survivors.

“He lives every day to the fullest and faces every challenge with courage and determination,” Edwards said.