Ted Kennedy Has Malignant Brain Tumor

Doctors Say Tests Conducted After Senator Suffered Seizure Reveal Brain Cancer

(CBS/AP)  A cancerous brain tumor caused the seizure Sen. Edward M. Kennedy suffered over the weekend, doctors said Tuesday in a grim diagnosis for one of American politics' most enduring figures.

"I have to be honest," Kennedy's wife Victoria said in a statement, "we've been pitched a real curveball. Rest assured, this is only the first inning."

"He remains in good spirits and full of energy," the doctors for the 76-year-old Massachusetts Democrat said in a statement.

They said tests conducted after the seizure showed a tumor in Kennedy's left parietal lobe. Preliminary results from a biopsy of the brain identified the cause of the seizure as a malignant glioma, they said.

His treatment will be decided after more tests but the usual course includes combinations of radiation and chemotherapy.

Nationally known brain cancer expert Dr. Maciej Lesniak from the University of Chicago told CBS News Radio that chemo and radiation very often are ineffective, and certainly don't cure this type of tumor. He also puts the average survival time at just over a year. He says often the discovery of this type of tumor is the "tip of the iceberg" - an indication that there are other cancer cells existing in the brain or elsewhere.

Dr. Lynne Taylor, a neuro-oncoloist and a member of the American Academy of Neurology, advises there are some potentially critical pieces of information aren't publicly known. Taylor told CBS that the size, grade and location of the tumor would all be factors in Kennedy's treatment.

"It could be too big and in a location, that means surgery can't be done, or get it all," she said. "It could be, given the exact location, surgery could cause severe problems, including the loss of the ability to communicate."

Kennedy has been hospitalized in Boston since Saturday, when he was airlifted from Cape Cod after a seizure at his home.

Kennedy's father-in-law told CBS station WBZ-TV on Monday that the senator had suffered two seizures before reaching the hospital. Only one has been reported by officials.

WBZ said Kennedy had the second seizure during the helicopter ride to Mass. General, according to father-in-law, Edmund Reggie.

"He has had no further seizures, remains in good overall condition, and is up and walking around the hospital," said the statement by Dr. Lee Schwamm, vice chairman of the Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Dr. Larry Ronan, Kennedy's primary care physician.

They said Kennedy will remain in the hospital "for the next couple of days according to routine protocol."

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CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook explains some possible treatments that Sen. Kennedy may receive.

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Kennedy's wife and children have been with him each day since he was hospitalized. Senator Kennedy's son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., plans to stay at the hospital for the time being.

"Obviously it's tough news for any son to hear," said spokeswoman Robin Costello. "He's comforted by the fact that his dad is such a fighter, and if anyone can get through something as challenging as this, it would be his father. So he's optimistic, he's hopeful, but obviously he's concerned."

President Bush was notified by his staff of Kennedy's diagnosis at 1:20 p.m.

CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller reports that after Kennedy helped enact the No Child Left Behind program, President Bush was full of praise for him.

"He is a fabulous United States senator," the president said. "When he's against you, it's tough. When he's with you, it is a great experience."

Now, after learning of Kennedy's condition, Mr. Bush issued a statement calling Kennedy his friend and a man of tremendous courage. He said he prays for his full recovery.

"Take care of my friend," the president told Kennedy's wife on Monday, according to Kennedy spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter.

Malignant gliomas are a type of brain cancer diagnosed in about 9,000 Americans a year - and the most common type among adults. It's an initial diagnosis: How well patients fare depends on what specific tumor type is determined by further testing.

Average survival can range from less than a year for very advanced and aggressive types - such as glioblastomas - or to about five years for different types that are slower growing.

CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston reports that in the Senate, where Kennedy has served more than 40 years, the news shook his colleagues to the core - on both sides of the aisle.

"Thank God for you, Ted, thank God for you," said a visibly distraught Senator Robert Byrd D-W.Va., the only member who has served longer in the Senate than Kennedy.

"I'm really sad," former Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., said when told in a Senate hallway about Kennedy's condition. "He's the one politician who brings tears to my eyes when he speaks."

"I am so deeply saddened I have lost the words," Sen. John Warner, R-Va., said in a Senate hallway. Warner said he and Kennedy had been friends for 40 years. Both served on the Senate Armed Services Committee together.

"You know like Churchill once said in the darkest days of the battle, Britain - never, never, never give in," Warner said later speaking to his congressional colleages, "and those words are in Ted Kennedy's mind right now. He'll take on this challenge."

"I have said on numerous occasions, I have described Ted Kennedy as the last lion in the Senate," said Republican presidential hopeful John McCain. "And I have held that view because he remains the single most effective member of the Senate if you want to get results. He is not reluctant to share the credit. And when he fails, he is willing to take the blame."

Kennedy's family continues to remain positive. In a photo released Tuesday afternoon, the smiling senator is shown with his family in the hospital.

In her upbeat public statement, Victoria Kennedy said, "Teddy is leading us all as usual, in his calm approach to getting the best information possible."

Kennedy, the second-longest serving member of the Senate and a dominant figure in national Democratic Party politics, was elected in 1962, filling out the term won by his brother, John F. Kennedy.

His eldest brother, Joseph, was killed in a World War II airplane crash. President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 and his brother Robert was assassinated in 1968.

Kennedy is active for his age, maintaining an aggressive schedule on Capitol Hill and across Massachusetts. He has made several campaign appearances for Sen. Barack Obama in February, and most recently last month.

Kennedy, the senior senator from Massachusetts, was re-elected in 2006 and is not up for election again until 2012.

Were he to resign or die in office, state law requires a special election for the seat no sooner than 145 days and no later than 160 days after the vacancy occurs.

[bdave2008]

ONE MORE TIME !!!

I have been a Good Friend with the kennedy Family for 35 years. I guess I have known Ted the Best. I knew people would be bringing up the Mary Jo incident. But it''''s like this,( I have been at a High Rank in Intelligence), And I KNOW THE REAL TRUTH! And Ted, did what he had to do fighting a Dark and Sinister Force that was Already Among US! If you knew the TRUTH, You Would be Shaking in your Boots! Ted, is a "TRUE HERO," and that is what everyone really knows in Washington! The American Pubic Knows NOTHING when it comes to What Really Happened! Fomer M.I.B.

[algoresarse]

its you and god now this time...its not going to be easy for you teddy..the agony of knowing that you are going to die..the thought that you will be in pain all through out the ordeal..that in the end..after all the futile attempt..you will answer for your sins

[ann3332]

Get a life people i would like to see what your reaction would be if you had brain cancer and people make terrible commnent about you as you did with Ted kennedy. No i dont agree with he dones but he doesnt derserve these stupid remark you giving him.

[brianbwb-2009]

Posted by jackie0428

By the way, thank you for the compliment.

[brianbwb-2009]

Posted by jackie0428

So what? You don''t like it? Either show how it is false, or don''t read it.


Chrrrp... Chrrrp (sounds of crickets)

Typical.

[legalru]

I have been a Good Friend with the kennedy Family for 35 years by: bdave

so: bdave, did you advise him to ''run and hide and LIE''? and then come out and pretend like nothing ever happened? And no, I''m not perfect, the difference between us is, I never murdered anyone, I never lied about murdering anyone, I never paid the police to cover up a murder, and I never ran for public office after I murdered someone and pretended that it never happened.

[dorlockt]

Best Wishes in h*ell, Teddy Tumor!

[priscg]

I am very sorry to hear about Sen. Kennedy''s illness.. but would someone tell Bob Schieffer that he is not DEAD! His whole commentary this morning was in past tense, and that is so negative!

[libh8er]

I have been a Good Friend with the kennedy Family for 35 years. Posted by bdave2008 at 01:56 AM : May 21, 2008

As a cook or a butler?

[jackie0428]

BrianBWB, you are a total as*shole. We''ve all read your anti-American, anti-Semitic, pro-terrorism, and pro-Jihadist posts on CBS for many months now. You have zero, zilch credibility or stature on these boards, no matter how hard you try to sound intelligent. You''re a despicable human beings and we all know it.

[brianbwb-2009]

There is no other family that has had such a deep impact on America in the last century. It is a tribute to a man''s effectiveness that those who were aligned with Mr. Kennedy''s views considered him a saint, and those opposed consider him to be the left hand of Satan.

For the progressives, a great champion for the cause is now counting down his last time amongst us, let us rally around his work, proudly wearing the label "Kennedy Liberal", and strive to be even more of a thorn in the side of the regressives.

For the regressives, your hatred and classless vitriol is the highest praise that any one could ask for, that he could so anger the forces of repression, racism, and religious intolerance, is a sure sign that his work was indeed for the good of humanity, precisely because you hate him so.

May we all try to be as much trouble to the neocon-derthals.

[dsr57]

Is that what''''''''s under an american''''''''s inground pool? A dead women?

Posted by freakout1013

No it''''s like this---He who is without sin cast the first stone. We''''re not perfect, and the only one that was was crucified on the cross.

Posted by ampsanne


---------------------------------------------------

HA HA HA HA HA REALLY???????

I''ll throw stones all day, right up until I kill someone while driving drunk.


But hey, nice try at a good point...I''m sorry but you failed

[ampsanne]

Is that what''''s under an american''''s inground pool? A dead women?

Posted by freakout1013

No it''s like this---He who is without sin cast the first stone. We''re not perfect, and the only one that was was crucified on the cross.

[dsr57]

We can finally be rid of him ! ! ! He was a murderer anyway.

[cfp506151]

SENATOR KENNEDY,

I HOPE YOU ARE DOING WELL, YOU ARE A TRUE CHAMPION FOR AMERICA, I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST.

MSG(RETIRED) CARL F. PATTERSON
RIANG

[it_oldtimer]

Best wishes, Ted.

[it_oldtimer]

"I am a conservative Republican" now means:

I am downright stupid, and I really don''t understand politics at all.

I am personally greedy and selfish, and don''t understand politics at all.

I am brainlessly religious, and don''t understand politics at all.

Take your pick. If you are a Republican you fit into one (or more) of the above categories.

In short, if you are a Republican, you are a political troglodyte. A caveman. A political ***. A throwback to the Dark Ages. You live in the long-dead past. You belong to the KKK.

Wake up and smell the coffee...

[it_oldtimer]

The "brain problems" lie entirely on the Republican side.

Conservatism = old "nobody cares" issues and values. This is why you''re now being swept out of government like the political pariah''s that you are - nobody - and I mean NOBODY - respects those old-school values any more.

The former epithet "liberal" has now been officially replaced with the NEW epithet: "conservative".

Wear your new label in disgrace, as becomes your totally failed ideology.

[it_oldtimer]

Bummer...

This man is the very epitome of a "free America" itself.

He deserves to be considered among America''s very finest.

I hope he does well...

[bdave2008]

dinodavid220

As far as your Ignorant mentality, the reason you can''t be Enlightened is you haven''t seen it ( THE REAL TRUTH) Which you counldn''r Handle! Sitting in your underwaer at night on the couch watching the NEWS! And that''s because, you couldn''t Quailify for a National Security Role EVER! Thank God there are some Truly Enlightened poeple in Washington and Ex-Intel!