Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) faces radiation and chemotherapy to fight his brain cancer after surgery on Monday that his surgeon called successful.

The surgery at the Duke University Medical Center lasted three and a half hours. “Sen. Kennedy was awake during the resection, and should therefore experience no permanent neurological [effects] from the surgery,” his surgeon, Allan Friedman, said in a statement. After about a week of recuperation, Kennedy will begin targeted radiation at Massachusetts General Hospital and chemotherapy treatment.

Earlier in the day, Kennedy said his doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital consulted with experts from around the country and decided on surgery and the follow-up treatments. “After completing treatment, I look forward to returning to the United States Senate and to doing everything I can to help elect Barack Obama as our next president,” he said of the Illinois Democrat in a statement.

— Erin P. Billings