John McCain: US senator diagnosed with brain cancer

US Senator John McCain is being treated in a Phoenix hospital.

United States senator John McCain has brain cancer and is reviewing treatment options that may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation, his office has announced.

The six-term Republican senator and former presidential nominee, who is 80, has been recovering at home in Arizona since undergoing a procedure to remove a blood clot from above his left eye.

Tissue analysis since that procedure revealed that a primary brain tumour known as a glioblastoma was associated with the clot, his office said.

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive cancer that forms within the brain.

"The Senator and his family are reviewing further treatment options with his Mayo Clinic care team," the Mayo Clinic of Phoenix said in a written statement.

Doctors said Senator McCain was recovering from his surgery "amazingly well" and his underlying health was excellent, according to the statement.

About 20,000 people in the US each year are diagnosed with a glioblastoma, a particularly aggressive type of brain tumour.

The American Cancer Society puts the five-year survival rate for patients over 55 at about 4 per cent.

In a statement on Twitter, his daughter, Meghan McCain, said: "My love for my father is boundless and like any daughter I cannot and do not wish to be in a world without him. I have faith that those days remain far away."

"My grandmother, mother, brothers, sister, and I have all endured the shock of the news, and now we live with the anxiety about what comes next."

US President Donald Trump said in a statement that Senator McCain "has always been a fighter".

Mr Trump said he and Melania Trump "send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon".