The problem with glioblastoma is that completely removing all the visible tumor --as the surgeon did [View all]
with McCain's tumor -- isn't curative. By the time glioblastoma is diagnosed, it's usually seeded itself in other areas in the brain. So they removed everything they could see in the primary site, but he needs further treatment to fight cancer cells in the rest of his brain.
https://www.statnews.com/2017/07/19/heres-know-sen-john-mccains-brain-cancer-diagnosis/
What treatments come next?
According to the note from McCain’s physicians, “treatment options may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation.” But it’s not clear yet what the timetable is for those treatments. For now, McCain is home in Arizona. “Further consultations with Senator McCain’s Mayo Clinic care team will indicate when he will return to the United States Senate,” his office said in a statement.
What’s the prognosis?
Not good. After undergoing surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, some 70 percent of patients suffer further spread of their glioblastoma along with such serious side effects as cognitive decline and strokes. In a statement, McCain’s physicians said that “the tissue of concern was completely resected by imaging criteria,” meaning that when they performed the procedure to remove a blood clot above his left eye last week they got everything that was visible. Unfortunately, “micro-metastases” — just a few malignant cells that spread from the initial tumor — cannot be seen on CT or MRI scans. Barely 5 percent of patients with glioblastoma are alive after five years, and only half make it past 15 months.
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