While Senator John McCain is recovering from brain surgery at his Arizona home, many Americans are asking if his health will improve enough for him to return to his duties in Washington.
Apparently McCain himself plans to return. In a Tweet, he expressed his gratitude for the outpouring of support since it became public that he had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer.
"Unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, I'll be back soon, so stand by!" he wrote.
But can he really return?
Last Friday, doctors discovered the brain tumor while he was undergoing minimally invasive surgery for a blood clot above his left eye. Glioblastoma is a very aggressive form of brain cancer that spreads rapidly.
Although the surgeons believe they removed all of the cancerous tissue, McCain's prognosis isn't good. According to the National Brain Tumor Society, the five-year survival rate is only 5.1 percent.
"Most people don't live more than a year after diagnosis — eighteen months at the most," said neurosurgeon Dr. Russell Blaylock, author of the Blaylock Wellness Report.
McCain, his family, and his physicians are considering the types of treatment he could undergo, which include chemotherapy and radiation. "Unfortunately, treatments for this type of cancer haven't improved much in the past 40 years," Blaylock tells Newsmax Health.
Even new immunotherapy treatments aren't expected to be of much use, including the one that saved the life of former President Jimmy Carter in 2015. Carter's brain cancer had spread from a melanoma, which is different from glioblastoma. "Glioblastoma hasn't responded well to this therapy," Blaylock explains.
However, there is one new therapy that offers hope. "Some of the most advanced treatments use an antiviral therapy against the herpes virus that have prolonged survival," he says.
McCain appears to be recovering well from surgery, so it's very possible that he will return to the Senate, even if only for a few months. "I'd say it's possible for him to return for three to six months," Blaylock says.
"Unfortunately, considering the type of cancer and McCain's age, his prognosis is extremely poor."