Kennedy's Cancer Is Highly Lethal

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The Kennedy Family Patriarch

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor after suffering a seizure at his home on May 17, 2008. He is a liberal icon of the U.S. Senate and patriarch of the Kennedy family.

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Regardless of whether patients undergo surgery, they typically receive radiation and chemotherapy to try to shrink the tumor and control its growth. A variety of regimens are used, including a common course that involves seven weeks of targeted radiation treatment combined with an oral drug called Temodar to sensitize the tumor to the therapy, Taylor said. That is followed by five days of the drug every month for as long as it appears to be effective.

"The lucky patients continue for two years if it's working," Taylor said. "If you relapse within months, the enthusiasm to do more is obviously less."

Although a variety of experimental therapies are being tested, most so far appear to extend life by a matter of weeks.

"We're not talking about anything that adds years of life to a patient's prognosis. We're talking weeks or months at the most," Sontheimer said.

Patients who have seizures because of the tumors, as Kennedy did last weekend, usually also take anti-seizure medication, Laureno said. The seizures are typically caused by tumors located near the surface of the brain, where they disrupt the normal electrical activity.

"Nerve cell networks can get irritated by the tumor. The brain sort of fires off, almost like an electrical storm, and that can make you lose consciousness and have a convulsion," Laureno said.

Over time, the growth of the tumor can cause a range of complications as it damages more parts of the brain.

Despite the bleak outlook, several experts said it is impossible to predict what will happen for any individual patient.

"We do have some long-term survivors who are doing very well," Taylor said. "I think it would be unfortunate to say it's grim. It could go that way. But I don't think it's destined to go that way."