Many questions remain about Senator Ted Kennedy's malignant brain tumor.  KSFY spoke with Dr. Michael Puumala with Avera Neurosurgery to shed some light on Kennedy's condition. 

The tumor the senator has is in the left parietal lobe. Dr. Puumala says, "The left side of the brine has some important functions including speech. One of the speech areas is in that parietal area, so that's one of the big things that can be affected." Doctor Puumala says, "There are lots of different types of tumors that are encompassed by saying a malignant glioma.  Unfortunately, the type of tumor Senator Kennedy has is the most common, but it's also the worst to have. So really, they're going to have to get a little piece of it, a biopsy, to find out exactly what it is and then treatment will be determined by that." 

Doctor Puumala says, "Surgery often doesn't have a big role to play.  Radiation and chemotherapy are the mainstays. Unfortunately, in these malignant cases, nothing really stops a tumor."