Senator Ed Kennedy has malignant brain tumor
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., has a malignant tumor in his brain, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
The condition was found after the eight-term senator, who is 76, suffered a seizure over the weekend and was rushed to the hospital.
The typical treatment for malignant glioma, which is what the Kennedy is diagnosed with, are "combinations of various forms of radiation and chemotherapy," Dr. Lee Schwamm, the vice chairman of neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Dr. Larry Ronan, a primary care physician there, said in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, the Times reported.
The tumor is in Kennedy's upper left portion of his brain, the Times reported.
The Society for Neurology says that brain cancer is "aggressive" and "lethal" and that it has always been "one of the most devastating diseases because they are so difficult to treat, much less cure." And that’s just general brain tumors...
The type that Kennedy has? The outlook appears even grimmer.
"A glioma tumor is particularly damaging because it tends to quickly sprout and spread within the brain. Each year, approximately 20,000 Americans find out that they have a glioma. More than half die within 18 months," according to SFN.
A report from the National Cancer Institute says malignant glioma accounts for more than half of all brain cancer cases diagnosed each year and the tumors are currently the second-most common cause of cancer death for those 15- to 44-years-old.
Kennedy has suffered health problems in the past, but nothing as serious as this case, FoxNews.com reported. In 1964, the senator was involved in a private plane crash that killed two people. He suffered several fractured back bones, broken ribs and internal bleeding, according to Fox News.
Kennedy also underwent surgery in October 2007 to clear a partially blocked carotid neck artery. The surgery described as "routine, uneventful, and successful," according to Fox News.
Lawmakers react to the news here.