Edward Kennedy, the U.S. Senate's second-longest-serving member and one of the most powerful political figures of the past half-century, has been diagnosed with a type of brain cancer that usually proves fatal.
The diagnosis of malignant glioma was announced yesterday by his doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital, where the 76-year-old patriarch of the Kennedy family was taken by helicopter Saturday after suffering a seizure at his home on Cape Cod.
The Massachusetts Democrat will be treated with chemotherapy and radiation, his doctors said, standard treatment that normally slows or stops the growth of the brain tumor but seldom cures it. The senator will remain at the hospital "for the next couple days according to routine protocol," his doctors said in a prepared statement.
"Decisions regarding the best course of treatment for Senator Kennedy will be determined after further testing and analysis," said Dr. Lee Schwamm, vice chairmen of neurology, and Dr. Larry Ronan, the senator's primary care physician.
"He remains in good spirits and full of energy," they said.
In a statement, President Bush saluted Kennedy as "a man of tremendous courage, remarkable strength and powerful spirit." He added: "We join our fellow Americans in praying for his full recovery."
Senators of both parties heard about Kennedy's condition during their weekly, closed-door policy lunches.
Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski called Kennedy one of her oldest friends in Congress. She has been in touch with family members, and expressed hope for his recovery.
"No one knows how to fight harder and with more determination than Ted Kennedy," the Maryland Democrat said. "I know he will fight and beat this diagnosis."
Sen. John Kerry has visited Kennedy at Massachusetts General Hospital.
"He's in a fighting mood," the Massachusetts Democrat said. "He is asking questions about what the choices are for him and [is] deeply involved in making all the kinds of personal decisions that any of you would."
Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, described Kennedy as "the last lion in the Senate."
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, Kennedy's closest friend in the Senate, said Kennedy would return to work.
Doctors who treat brain cancer said patients generally tolerate treatment for this type of brain cancer well, and are often able to work and carry on daily activities. Though a small percentage of patients become long-term survivors, the majority succumb to the tumor within five years.
