Beau Biden's passing raises brain cancer awareness
The death this past weekend of Vice President Joe Biden's 46-year-old son, Joseph R. Biden III, took many people by surprise.
The former Delaware attorney general, known as Beau, announced just last year that he planned to run for governor of Delaware in 2016. Diagnosed with brain cancer in August 2013, he underwent surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, and was feeling well enough by April 2014 to share his gubernatorial plans publicly. But last month he was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and on Saturday, May 30, he died there. The cause was brain cancer, his father said.
The Biden family has not disclosed the type of brain cancer Beau had, but the Washington Post speculated he most likely had a glioblastoma, which has a survival rate of less than two years.
It is not uncommon for a person diagnosed with an aggressive malignant brain tumor to die of brain cancer despite surgery and other follow-up treatment, medical experts say.
"This is especially common with glioblastomas since there is no true cure," said Dr. Juan Alzate, a neurosurgeon with The American Center for Spine and Neurosurgery in Libertyville, Ill., who is on staff at Advocate Condell Medical Center. "The survival rate with all of the best treatments is 16 to 18 months."
According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons' website, glioblastomas account for about 52 percent of all tumors that start in the brain. They tend to occur in adults between the ages of 45 and 70. Men are more likely to get them than women.
The American Cancer Society estimates that 22,850 malignant tumors of the brain or spinal cord will be diagnosed this year and about 15,320 people will die from such tumors. Overall, that chance that a person will develop a malignant tumor of the brain or spinal cord in his or her lifetime is less than 1 percent.
When surgery is performed, the physician's primary objective is to remove as much of the tumor as possible without injuring normal brain tissue. But tumor cells from this type of cancer often invade surrounding tissue, making it impossible to ever remove the tumor entirely, the AANS reports. So surgery can help relieve some symptoms and improve quality of life, but it's unlikely to result in prolonged remission.
"Even with complete removal of the tumor, the patient is not cured of the condition," Dr. Alzate says. "There are trials currently going on with vaccines, but these are still in the very early stages."
While the prognosis is not promising for patients diagnosed with glioblastomas, it is important for people to remember that not all brain tumors and malignant.
"Many brain tumors are benign and can be cured with surgery," Dr. Alzate says.
Symptoms of glioblastomas depend largely on the size and location of the tumor.
"If the tumor is located next to the motor area, you may experience weakness," Dr. Alzate says. "A tumor in the speech area of the brain would likely result in difficulty speaking or slurred speech. A tumor in the frontal area may result in symptoms of behavior changes or difficulty with memory," he says.
Initially, glioblastomas are diagnosed with an MRI, which shows the tumor's location and size.
"The final diagnosis of the tumor as glioblastoma is not known until after a sample of the tumor is evaluated by pathology," Dr. Alzate says.