Mr. Brain Tumor Goes to Washington

Unless you've been under a rock, you've heard that Senator Ted Kennedy has been diagnosed with a "malignant glioma." I am saddened, deeply saddened. Such a great man, such a terrible disease. I put his diagnosis in quotes because it's actually quite vague. There are many types of glioma. And that they used the term malignant simply means that it's fast growing (the usual cancer terminology of benign/malignant falls into some grey areas [ha ha ha, catch my pun] when it comes to brain tumors). I speculate that he may actually have GBM- gioblastoma multiforme, the really bad one. It spreads quickly and infiltrates deeply. BTs are not usually solid masses of tumor cells that are easily identifiable. They are so deadly because they grow into tentacles or tiny fingers that reach into the brain, sometimes making complete removal all but impossible. As I understand it, his tumor is in the parietal lobe, housing eloquent brain function. They would do more damage with surgery than good. That's why they're saying he underwent a biopsy, which is not typical with brain tumors. It means they still had to do a full craniotomy to get to the tumor site, survey the extent of tumor (only some of which was discernible through surgery) and take tissue samples to determine pathology of the tumor and how to proceed with treatment. At this point, his best hope is that his tumor is chemo-sensitive (only some BTs respond to chemo) and a combination of chemo and radiation will shrink his tumor, or at least keep it in it's current state for some time.

And FYI, gliomas are a family name that applies to many types of BTs, one of which is oligodendroglioma, the tumor that's been haunting dad for 2o years. Dad's also is considered malignant, but again, they don't really use that terminology. His is grade 2.5 out of 5, based on the World Health Organization's brain tumor classification system.