After suffering a seizure this weekend, Sen. Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, and the press has begun to speculate about treatments that may be used to buy some extra time for the dying lawmaker. We have picked our favorite: cholortoxin.

Kennedy's best option may be an experimental drug made from giant yellow Israeli scorpion venom. It is produced by TransMolecular Inc. and has advanced into Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of gliomas, the type of tumor that will probably kill him.

The medication, TM-601, is a peptide, a short protein which has a remarkable ability to stick to some types of cancer cells while avoiding normal ones. Attach it to some radioactive iodine and the molecule becomes a smart weapon – killing cancer cells while leaving their healthy neighbors unscathed.

In an ongoing clinical trial, the drug will be intracavitary administered, which means it will be squirted straight into the patients' brains.

Despite the bugs and gore, what I find most interesting is that radiolabeled TM-601 was granted orphan drug status by the Food and Drug Administration this year. Since gliomas are not common enough to be a big moneymaker for big pharmaceutical companies, they have little motivation to develop a cure.

With just that sort of dire situation in mind, congress passed the Orphan Drug Act of 1983. It was meant to encourage research for neglected diseases. Years later, Kennedy fought to amend that theoretically-benevolent law because manufacturers were charging a fortune for drugs which had been granted orphan status.

We would like to compile a list of his medical options, including experimental remedies, and you can help us out. What are his other options? Do you like this one the best?

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Image: The giant yellow Israeli scorpion was the original source of cholortoxin, which is now being tested as a treatment for glioma.

Credit: furryscaly / flickr