Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., announced his decision Aug. 24 to discontinue his cancer treatment.
The McCain family said in the statement that in the year following his diagnosis, Mr. McCain "surpassed expectations for his survival." However, he has now chosen to discontinue treatment.
"With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment. Our family is immensely grateful for the support and kindness of all his caregivers over the last year, and for the continuing outpouring of concern and affection from John's many friends and associates, and the many thousands of people who are keeping him in their prayers. God bless and thank you all," the statement reads.
Last year, the decadeslong Arizona senator was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer that also claimed the life of former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Beau Biden, in 2015, the Clinton Herald reports.
Mr. McCain was born in August 1936 and enrolled at the Annapolis, Md.-based United States Naval Academy in 1954. He served as a U.S. Naval officer until 1981.
During the Vietnam War, Mr. McCain served as a pilot, and his plane was shot down in Vietnam in October 1967. He was taken prisoner and held for more than five years, two of which were spent in solitary confinement, the report states. He was liberated from the prisoner of war camp in March 1974.
Mr. McCain was elected as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986. He also ran for president on two separate occasions: He lost the GOP nomination in 2000, but was selected by the party to run for presidency in 2008.