One of the state's leading experts on cancer and cancer therapy says despite Sen. John McCain's vow to 'beat this thing,' the 2008 Republican Presidential nominee faces a grim future from the aggressive brain cancer known as 'gioblastoma,' News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
"Our treatment is kind of limited to surgery, some radiation and chemotherapy," said Dr. Anthony Tolcher, the Clinical Director of San Antonio's START Center for Cancer Care, one of the country's top facilites for testing of cancer drugs.
"We just at this point don't have curative therapy."
Sen. McCain was diagnosed with brain cancer by doctors who were treating the 80 year old Senator and Vietnam War veteran for blood tumors.
"Survival is somewhere between 12 and 18 months," Dr. Tolcher said. "There are clinical trials trying to address that, but so far, this is a really tough cancer to treat."
He points out that this is the same type of cancer that killed Sen. Ted Kennedy.
He says if Sen. McCain's cancer follows a similar course, he will be able to fulfill his duties for a while, but eventually it will affect him to the point where that is no longer possible.
"The treatment we have is useful, but really hasn't changed the disease dramatically at all, unfortunately."
IMAGE; GETTY