John McCain is discontinuing medical treatment

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has opted to discontinue medical treatment, his family announced in a statement Friday.

The 81-year-old senator announced he had been diagnosed with glioblastoma — an aggressive brain tumor — in July 2017. Now, with "his usual strength of will," McCain has chosen to end treatment for the tumor, his family said.

McCain was given a serious prognosis for the tumor when it was diagnosed last year, and has since "surpassed expectations for his survival," his family said. "But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict," they wrote. Both McCain's daughter Meghan and wife Cindy tweeted appreciation for those who have supported McCain in the past year.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Since his diagnosis, McCain has undergone a handful of surgeries and chemotherapy treatments. He briefly returned to the Senate floor in September to vote against his party's health-care bill, and he had hoped to rejoin the chamber in January. But McCain has not been seen in public since December, choosing to recover at his Arizona ranch instead. McCain's book released in May is largely thought to be one of his final messages to the American people.