US Senator Edward Kennedy is to undergo Edward Kennedy is diagnosed with brain tumour ...
US Senator Kennedy rushed to hospital after falling ill ... surgery on Monday for a brain tumour, according to a statement by his office.
The senator for Massachusetts, 76, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour last month, following a seizure.
The six-hour operation will take place at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina. A week later, Mr Kennedy is due to begin chemotherapy.
The youngest brother of assassinated President John F Kennedy is one of the best-known US Democratic politicians.
In a statement, Mr Kennedy said he and his wife had consulted with doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital and experts from around the country.
As a result, they had "decided that the best course of action for my brain tumour is targeted surgery followed by chemotherapy and brain surgery", he said.
Doctors diagnosed a malignant glioma in the left parietal lobe after Mr Kennedy was hospitalised in mid-May.
Mr Kennedy added: "After completing treatment, I look forward to returning to the United States Senate and to doing everything I can to help elect Barack Obama president."
The second longest-serving member of the Senate, Mr Kennedy has been an active supporter of Senator Obama in his fight to be the Democratic choice to run for US president.
Powerful clan
Mr Kennedy was first elected senator for Massachusetts in November 1962 - shortly after turning the requisite 30 years of age - to replace his brother, who had been elected president in 1960.
Since then he has been re-elected seven times.
Born into a rich and powerful Irish-American Catholic family, the son of Joseph Kennedy, Edward "Teddy" Kennedy became the head of the clan after the deaths of his three elder brothers.
The eldest, Joseph Jr, was killed while flying a bomber during World War II.
John was assassinated while president in 1963, and Robert was shot dead while running for president in 1968.
Edward, or Teddy, as he is known, ran against sitting President Jimmy Carter in 1980, but failed, after struggling to put the infamous "Chappaquiddick incident" behind him.
He had, in 1969, crashed a car off a bridge, and while he escaped, his young female passenger drowned in the water below. He fled and did not report the incident to police for more than eight hours.
He later pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received a suspended two-month sentence.
Mr Kennedy is also the father of Congressman Patrick J Kennedy.
(BBC)
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