After a half-century of battling for his family and his liberal convictions, Edward Kennedy is in the final fight of his life against a malignant brain tumor that never loses.
The 76-year-old Massachusetts senator faces - at best - a rigorous and debilitating regimen of radiation and chemotherapy. If doctors find the glioma is an aggressive form of the cancer, the veteran Democrat could have less than a year to live.
The stunning diagnosis, delivered in a 158-word statement, explained that Kennedy had "a malignant glioma in the left parietal lobe" - a section of the brain responsible for speech and sensation.
"Generally, they're not curable, but in some cases they can be managed for different periods of time," said Dr. Jeffrey Bruce, professor of neurological surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia.
"The older a person is, the less favorable the prognosis. . . . It's not possible to remove all of it. Because they invade the brain as they do, they will eventually grow back."
The patriarch of the nation's most famous political family and the longtime voice of American liberalism was diagnosed after a brain biopsy determined the tumor responsible for his weekend seizures was cancerous.
His doctors said Kennedy was "in good spirits and full of energy" on a day when his dire condition prompted an outpouring of praise, prayer and speculation:
Kennedy's doctors said "further testing and analysis" was needed to determine the best course of treatment for the senator. Experts said his age would work against Kennedy.
The statement made no mention of surgery, raising questions about whether the tumor was inoperable. The tumors, even if removed, invariably grow back.
President Bush offered his prayers for Kennedy, describing the 46-year Senate veteran as "a man of tremendous courage, remarkable strength and powerful spirit."
Senate colleagues, overcome by emotion, struggled mightily with the news. "I am so deeply saddened I have lost the words," said Sen. John Warner (D-Va).
"Ted, Ted, Ted," said a tearful and shaken Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.). "My dear friend. I love you and miss you."
His wife and five children were with the senator before and after the news became public. The family let an Associated Press photographer take pictures that show Kennedy joking and laughing with family members inside the hospital.
Kennedy was airlifted on Saturday to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston after suffering the first seizure while weekending at the family compound in Hyannis, Mass. He suffered a second seizure en route. The diagnosis was the latest sorrowful news for the star-crossed Kennedys, the first family of American politics since the days of "Camelot" in the early 1960s.
The 76-year-old Massachusetts senator faces - at best - a rigorous and debilitating regimen of radiation and chemotherapy. If doctors find the glioma is an aggressive form of the cancer, the veteran Democrat could have less than a year to live.
The stunning diagnosis, delivered in a 158-word statement, explained that Kennedy had "a malignant glioma in the left parietal lobe" - a section of the brain responsible for speech and sensation.
"Generally, they're not curable, but in some cases they can be managed for different periods of time," said Dr. Jeffrey Bruce, professor of neurological surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia.
"The older a person is, the less favorable the prognosis. . . . It's not possible to remove all of it. Because they invade the brain as they do, they will eventually grow back."
The patriarch of the nation's most famous political family and the longtime voice of American liberalism was diagnosed after a brain biopsy determined the tumor responsible for his weekend seizures was cancerous.
His doctors said Kennedy was "in good spirits and full of energy" on a day when his dire condition prompted an outpouring of praise, prayer and speculation:
Kennedy's doctors said "further testing and analysis" was needed to determine the best course of treatment for the senator. Experts said his age would work against Kennedy.
The statement made no mention of surgery, raising questions about whether the tumor was inoperable. The tumors, even if removed, invariably grow back.
President Bush offered his prayers for Kennedy, describing the 46-year Senate veteran as "a man of tremendous courage, remarkable strength and powerful spirit."
Senate colleagues, overcome by emotion, struggled mightily with the news. "I am so deeply saddened I have lost the words," said Sen. John Warner (D-Va).
"Ted, Ted, Ted," said a tearful and shaken Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.). "My dear friend. I love you and miss you."
His wife and five children were with the senator before and after the news became public. The family let an Associated Press photographer take pictures that show Kennedy joking and laughing with family members inside the hospital.
Kennedy was airlifted on Saturday to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston after suffering the first seizure while weekending at the family compound in Hyannis, Mass. He suffered a second seizure en route. The diagnosis was the latest sorrowful news for the star-crossed Kennedys, the first family of American politics since the days of "Camelot" in the early 1960s.
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