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Kennedy had most prevalent brain tumor

Posted on: Wednesday, 26 August 2009, 02:05 CDT

Glioma, the type of brain tumor that afflicted Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., is the most prevalent type of adult brain tumor, U.S. surgeons said.

The American Association of Neurological Surgeons said a brain tumor is an abnormal mass of tissue in which cells grow and multiply uncontrollably, seemingly unchecked by the mechanisms that control normal cells.

Kennedy suffered a seizure May 17, 2008, while walking his dogs at his home in Hyannis, Mass., and three days he was diagnosed with a brain tumor in the left parietal lobe after a biopsy was conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Initially, doctors said the tumor was inoperable, but Kennedy underwent surgery June 2, 2008. Dr. Allan Friedman of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., who performed the operation, said it had been successful.

Brain tumors -- whether primary or metastatic, benign or malignant -- are usually treated with surgery, radiation, and/or chemotherapy, alone or in various combinations. Gliomas, which affect some 9,000 people a year, can present a challenge for complete surgical removal because they have roots and tentacles.

Kennedy also had chemotherapy and radiation treatment. He suffered from seizures and was weak, but he appeared at several political events and for some votes in the U.S. Senate.

It was estimated that in 2005, there were a total of 18,500 new cases of brain and other nervous system tumors diagnosed -- 10,620 males and 7,880 females.

Source: United Press International

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