Kennedy's surgeon viewed as 'thought leader'

RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) -- The 59-year-old Chicago native picked to operate Monday on Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy's cancerous brain tumor is a respected leader in the giant field of neuro-oncology, experts said.

Dr. Allan Friedman "is one of the thought leaders" in the field, said Dr. Otis Brawley, the top doctor at the American Cancer Society. When Brawley was asked by his daughter's high school math teacher for advice on a brain tumor diagnosis, Brawley recommended the teacher seek out Friedman.

"He's an excellent surgeon. His patients are in very good hands," said Dr. Matthew Ewend, the neurosurgery chief at the nearby University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Friedman is Duke's neurosurgeon-in-chief and the program director of the university Division of Neurosurgery at Duke. He also serves as the deputy director of the university's Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center. An internationally known tumor and vascular surgeon, he is responsible for more than 90 percent of tumor resections and biopsies at Duke.

Duke's brain tumor center was established in 1937 and has a staff of more than 250 who work only on the research and treatment of brain tumors. Doctors and staff there are currently following the treatment of more than 2,000 patients from around the world.

More than two-thirds of the adult brain tumor patients at Duke also take part in clinical trials, the university said, compared with only 8 percent nationwide. Explainer: Treating cancer »

Friedman is a graduate of Purdue University who earned his medical degree at the University of Illinois-Chicago, Friedman did his residencies at Duke and the University of Western Ontario. His wife, Elizabeth Bullitt, is also a well-known neurosurgeon now focusing on research at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, just eight miles from Duke.

Kennedy was hospitalized May 17 at Massachusetts General Hospital after suffering a seizure at his home on Cape Cod. Doctors later announced that he had a malignant glioma -- one of the worst kinds of brain cancer -- in his left parietal lobe.

His decision to head to Duke, a hospital with a sterling reputation, was of little surprise to his friends.

"I think he likes to conduct an exhaustive search of resources out there and then make a decision. I think that's what all patients should do," said Philip W. Johnston, a Massachusetts Democratic activist and former chairman of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial.

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