Kennedy Diagnosed With Malignant Brain Tumor

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.


Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who was hospitalized in Boston Saturday after suffering a seizure, has a malignant brain tumor, according to a preliminary diagnosis released today by physicians at Massachusetts General Hospital.

A biopsy of a portion of Kennedy's brain identified a malignant glioma as the cause of the seizure, according to a statement by Lee H. Schwamm, the hospital's vice chairman of neurology, and Larry Ronan, Kennedy's primary care physician.

A glioma is the most common type of brain tumor, accounting for more than half of the 18,000 or so diagnosed each year.

The doctors said the usual course of treatment is radiation and chemotherapy.

"Senator Kennedy will remain at Massachusetts General Hospital for the next couple of days according to routine protocol. He remains in good spirits and full of energy," they said.

Senators learned of the diagnosis after Republicans and Democrats had joined their respective weekly policy lunches. "We stopped what we were doing and we said a prayer," said Sen. John Warner (R-Va.).

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) briefed the Democratic caucus about Kennedy's condition, prompting grave concern among Kennedy's colleagues. "I'm having a hard time remembering a day in my 34 years here I've felt this badly," Leahy said.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said President Bush was informed of Kennedy's condition at 1:20 p.m. "He was deeply saddened by the news, and said he would be keeping Sen. Kennedy in his prayers," Stanzel said. Kennedy teamed with Bush during the president's first term to enact Bush's signature No Child Left Behind education reform legislation, but later became one of his fiercest critics on the invasion of Iraq.

Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said that "our thoughts and prayers go out to Senator Kennedy and his family. We hope and pray his doctors will be able to effectively treat his condition and that he will experience a full recovery.

"I have described Ted Kennedy as the last lion in the Senate," McCain added, "and I have held that view because he remains the single most effective member of the Senate."

The diagnosis was a sharp turn of events after the weekend's developments. Initial reports Saturday indicated that Kennedy may have suffered a stroke, but that gloomy news soon gave way to more optimistic accounts of Kennedy joking with family, eating a seafood dinner and watching Boston Red Sox games.

Stephanie Cutter, a family spokesman, said then that further information on the senator's condition would not be known until Monday. The diagnosis was released today.

Kennedy's doctors said that "he has had no further seizures, remains in good overall condition, and is up and walking around the hospital." They said they will determine Kennedy's course of treatment after further testing and analysis.

Washington Post