DURHAM, N.C. — Sen. Edward Kennedy underwent 3 1/2 hours of risky and delicate surgery Monday to cut out as much of his cancerous brain tumor as possible.
“I feel like a million bucks. I think I’ll do that again tomorrow,” the 76-year-old Massachusetts Democrat was quoted by a family spokeswoman as telling his wife immediately afterward.
Dr. Allan Friedman, who performed the surgery at Duke University Medical Center, said the operation “was successful and accomplished our goals.” Up next: chemotherapy and radiation, aimed at shrinking whatever is left of the tumor.
“The main goal is to remove as much of the tumor as possible to give any other therapy that we do a better chance of working,” said Dr. John Sampson, associate deputy director of Duke’s brain tumor center.
Kennedy was diagnosed last month with a malignant glioma, an often-lethal type of brain tumor discovered in about 9,000 Americans a year.
Details about Kennedy’s exact type of tumor have not been disclosed, but some cancer specialists said it might be a glioblastoma multiforme — an especially deadly and tough-to-remove type — because other kinds are more common in younger people.
Cutting a tumor down to size — or “debulking” it — is extremely delicate because of the risk of harming healthy brain tissue that governs movement and speech. But Friedman, who is the top neurosurgeon at Duke and an internationally known tumor surgeon, said Kennedy should not experience any permanent neurological effects.
Doctors said Kennedy was awake for much of the surgery, which begins with opening the scalp and removing a piece of the skull to expose the brain. Sometimes surgeons use a probe to stimulate parts of the brain, then hold a conversation with the patient to ensure they are not damaging parts of the brain responsible for language.
In the following days, Kennedy will probably be given drugs to prevent brain swelling and seizures, which are possible complications of the surgery. The senator will also be closely watched for bleeding and blood clots, because strokes are also a risk, though they are uncommon.
Even if the surgery and follow-up radiation and chemotherapy go well, however, Kennedy’s situation remains fairly grim. The typical prognosis for survival after surgery, chemotherapy and radiation is 12 to 14 months. However, with that regimen, survival can be extended by two or three years and in rare cases even longer.
“It’s the only hope you can give for prolonged survival. It’s giving the patient and the family hope for greater length of survival you wouldn’t otherwise have,” said Vivek Deshmukh, director of cerebrovascular and endovascular neurosurgery at George Washington University Medical Center.
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