Sen. Edward Kennedy likely has one of two main types of malignant gliomas — the highly aggressive glioblastoma or the only slightly less aggressive anaplastic astrocytoma, according to Dr. Walter Jean, director of surgical neuro-oncology for Georgetown University Hospital.
Survival rates are bleak for both types — 50 percent of people with glioblastomas are dead within one year of diagnosis and 50 percent of people with anaplastic astrocytomas are dead within two to three years, he said.
While it is sometimes possible to remove a tumor through surgery, Kennedy’s doctors mentioned only radiation and chemotherapy as treatment options.
That could be because his tumor is located on the left parietal lobe of the brain, which is linked to speech and mobility, said Dr. Fabio Roberti, assistant professor of nuerological surgery at the George Washington University.
“Surgery may lead to complications,” Roberti said. “The risk and the cause of the complications really depend on the location of the tumor. The speech area is very close to his tumor, and the area that controls motion is very close to it. The visual field is also very close to it.”
Symptoms of the tumor can include seizures and numbness, he said.
Jean said some patients choose experimental trials as a treatment option.
“If surgery is off the table, then chemotheraphy and radiation are standard,” he said. “At some time, the standard treatment will fail, and that’s when some patients seek experimental treatment.”
