--- title: John McCain Opens Up About Cancer Diagnosis and Future description: Arizona Sen. John McCain discusses his "poor prognosis" and the moment he was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer canonical: https://time.com/4955168/john-mccain-cancer-diagnosis/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-24T21:12:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:34:25.842Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'It's a Very Poor Prognosis.' John McCain Opens Up About Cancer Diagnosis og:description: "Some say 3 percent, some say 14 percent" og:url: https://time.com/4955168/john-mccain-cancer-diagnosis/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte73e844a5cf561f3/6988df320a4a2257c59d00c4/gettyimages-849149614.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Senate Meets To Debate National Defense Authorization Act og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'It's a Very Poor Prognosis.' John McCain Opens Up About Cancer Diagnosis twitter:description: "Some say 3 percent, some say 14 percent" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte73e844a5cf561f3/6988df320a4a2257c59d00c4/gettyimages-849149614.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # ‘It’s a Very Poor Prognosis.’ John McCain Opens Up About Cancer Diagnosis by [TIME](https://time.com/author/time/) ## TIME Sep 24, 2017 9:12 PM UTC  WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 18: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is trailed by reporters in the Senate Subway before the Senate takes up the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2018, on Capitol Hill September 18, 2017 in Washington, DC. The NDAA authorizes levels of defense spending. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 18: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is trailed by reporters in the Senate Subway before the Senate takes up the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2018, on Capitol Hill September 18, 2017 in Washington, DC. The NDAA authorizes levels of defense spending. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [TIME](https://time.com/author/time/) ## TIME Sep 24, 2017 9:12 PM UTC Sen. [John McCain](http://time.com/4954193/lindsey-graham-john-mccain-still-friends-healthcare/) opened up Sunday about the moment he was diagnosed with an aggressive, often deadly form of brain cancer earlier this year. In a forthcoming interview on [CBS’ 60 Minutes](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-john-mccain-on-being-diagnosed-with-brain-cancer/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=42684159), the Arizona senator spoke about what it was like when doctors told him he had glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. At the time, McCain was visiting his doctor at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix to check out a blood clot in his eye. “As you know, doctors are interesting,” he told CBS, adding that he repeatedly told his doctors to “tell it to me straight.” It was only days after the operation that doctors confirmed the results via labs. They told McCain that his prognosis was not bright. “Some say 3 percent, some say 14 percent. You know it’s—it’s a very poor prognosis,” he told CBS. “So I just said, ‘I understand. Now we’re going to do what we can, get the best doctors we can find and do the best we can, and at the same time celebrate with gratitude a life well lived.'” Since his diagnosis earlier this summer, McCain has already completed his first round of chemotherapy treatment. And despite the unexpected cancer diagnosis, McCain returned to work at the Senate shortly after he recovered from the surgery for his blood clot — casting the deciding vote that ended a previous attempt by Republican senators to [repeal and replace Obamacare](http://time.com/4878038/john-mccain-vote-video/) in July. And earlier this week, he once again [came out against the latest GOP health care repeal plan](http://time.com/4953920/health-care-john-mccain-graham-cassidy-vote/), dubbed the Graham-Cassidy bill. “I cannot in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal,” McCain said in a statement. “I believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and have not really tried. Nor could I support it without knowing how much it will cost, how it will effect insurance premiums, and how many people will be helped or hurt by it. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4955168/john-mccain-cancer-diagnosis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4955168/john-mccain-cancer-diagnosis/"},"headline":"‘It’s a Very Poor Prognosis.’ John McCain Opens Up About Cancer Diagnosis","datePublished":"2017-09-24T21:12:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:34:25.842Z","description":"\"Some say 3 percent, some say 14 percent\"","url":"https://time.com/4955168/john-mccain-cancer-diagnosis/","keywords":["John McCain","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte73e844a5cf561f3/6988df320a4a2257c59d00c4/gettyimages-849149614.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte73e844a5cf561f3/6988df320a4a2257c59d00c4/gettyimages-849149614.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Senate Meets To Debate National Defense Authorization Act","caption":"Senate Meets To Debate National Defense Authorization Act","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/john-mccain/","name":"John McCain"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4955168/john-mccain-cancer-diagnosis/","name":"‘It’s a Very Poor Prognosis.’ John McCain Opens Up About Cancer Diagnosis"}}]}] ```