Oregon Public Broadcasting

Politicians in Washington reacted Tuesday to news that Senator Edward Kennedy has a malignant brain tumor.

The medical profession reacted too, including doctors at Oregon Health & Science University who have studied the same type of tumor as Kennedy's.

Doctor Edward Neuwelt is a professor of neurology at OHSU.

He says he immediately thought Kennedy might have a brain tumor when he heard the Senator had a series of seizures over the weekend.

Edward Neuwelt: “Stroke actually rarely presents with a seizure, where as brain tumors commonly do. Unlike breast cancer, catching this early does not have much benefit. This is not a curable tumor, so the key issue is to give him as much quality of life. But the fact is he can enjoy his family, function, but whether or not he can work, that's a different story.”

Neuwelt says treatments have improved in recent years. In fact, he co-authored a 2005 study about a protein that blocks tumor growth in rats.

But Neuwelt says the protein has been hard to produce for a human study.

So, Neuwelt says, Kennedy will most likely be treated with radiation, chemotherapy, and antibody drugs.