What's The Prognosis Of Sen. McCain's Glioblastoma?

Published: Friday, July 21, 2017 - 11:16am
Updated: Monday, July 24, 2017 - 11:45am

Sen. John McCain has been staying engaged despite his diagnosis of an aggressive form of brain cancer.

McCain tweeted Thursday that he greatly appreciated the outpouring of support, then said, “unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, I'll be back soon, so stand-by!”

The glioblastoma was discovered following a biopsy of a blood clot removed from above his left eye last Friday. The average survival rate for patients with the cancer is about 14 months with treatment.

But David Arons of the National Brain Tumor Society says there’s no way to really tell how long McCain actually has.

“What we know is that each person is different,” Arons said. “There are 20 year survivors of glioblastoma, 10 year survivors. The national average is tragically only 5 percent reach 5 years of survival, so it’s one of the deadliest cancers in the world.”

More than 12,000 people a year are diagnosed with glioblastoma.

Science