Sen. John McCain is ending his cancer treatment

Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain is discontinuing his medical treatment, his family announced Friday.

The announcement came just more than a year after McCain was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a terminal form of brain cancer.

What did the statement say?

The statement noted that McCain, who turns 82 on Wednesday, has outlived the expectations for his survival.

“But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict” and McCain has decided to end medical treatment, the statement said.

McCain has been absent from Washington, D.C., since December. During his treatment in Arizona, he has offered written statements on major developments but has otherwise stayed out of the public eye.

“I love my husband with all of my heart,” Cindy McCain wrote on Twitter Friday shortly after the family statement was released. “God bless everyone who has cared for my husband along this journey.”

McCain has had a long career that was noted for his tendency to buck the GOP. He served in the Senate for more than three decades and in both 2000 and 2008 made an unsuccessful run for president.

The announcement Friday led to messages of support on social media from McCain’s colleagues.

“Very sad to hear this morning’s update from the family of our dear friend @SenJohnMcCain,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) wrote on Twitter. “We are so fortunate to call him our friend and colleague. John, Cindy, and the entire McCain family are in our prayers at this incredibly difficult hour.”

“John McCain personifies service to our country,” House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) tweeted. “The whole House is keeping John and his family in our prayers during this time.

What are some of his career highlights?

McCain was a celebrated U.S. Navy pilot and became a prisoner of war in Vietnam after his plane was shot down in 1967 over Hanoi.

He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982. Four years later he was elected to the Senate, and became a strong voice on national security and foreign policy.

McCain was also politically known as an independent and worked with Democrats on issues such as immigration and campaign finance reform.

More recently, he has publicly sparred with President Donald Trump, who said during the 2016 presidential campaign that McCain was not a war hero.

McCain had also cast a pivotal vote against a Republican bill to repeal Obamacare. The move thwarted one of the GOP’s key promises of recent years and was met with repeated criticism from Trump.

McCain wrote about his strained relationship with Trump in his memoir, “The Restless Wave,” which was released in May.