Can Ted Kennedy beat brain cancer?

Yesterday's announcement that Senator Ted Kennedy has a malignant brain tumour cast a pall over the US Senate. Though the Kennedy clan (pictured above with the senator at Massachussetts General Hospital yesterday) maintained an upbeat demeanour, giving the thumbs-up to journalists outside the hospital, everybody privately knows this diagnosis is a death sentence.

Or is it?

Back in November, a new study presented at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology offered the first good news for glioma patients in a very long time. New York University oncologist Dr Ashwatha Narayana reported that the colorectal cancer drug bevacizumab triples the survival rate for patients with high-grade gliomas, when used with radiation therapy and the chemo drug temozolomide.

We covered the story in the December 15 2007 issue of the National Review of Medicine:

After six months, only four of the 14 patients had a cancer relapse.... The six month progression-free survival and overall survival were 71% and 92%, respectively — nearly triple the expected survival with this cancer.

"We're very excited that, for the very first time in over three years, we're making any kind of progress in treating this cancer, which has a two-year survival rate of hardly 5%," Dr Narayana told NRM.

Surviving three times longer is not the same as beating cancer, but patients and families are hugely grateful for the extra months they gain.

Photo: Associated Press

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