UPDATE 7-US Sen. Kennedy's cancer surgery deemed successful

(Updates with comments by Dodd, cancer expert)

By Gene Cherry

DURHAM, N.C., June 2 (Reuters) - U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Democratic icon and a leading backer of presidential contender Barack Obama, had successful surgery on Monday to remove a malignant brain tumor and should suffer "no permanent neurological effects," his surgeon said.

"I am pleased to report that Senator Kennedy's surgery was successful and accomplished our goals," Dr. Allan Friedman said in a statement after a 3 1/2-hour operation at Duke University's Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina.

After the surgery, Kennedy told his wife, Vicki, "I feel like a million bucks," an aide to the senator said.

Friedman, Duke's chief of neurosurgery, did not specify how much of the cancerous tumor he was able to remove. He called the operation "the first step" in a treatment plan for the 76-year-old senator from Massachusetts, head of America's most fabled political family.

"After a brief recuperation, he will begin targeted radiation at Massachusetts General Hospital and chemotherapy treatment," Friedman said.

Dr. Mark Gilbert of the University of Texas' cancer center, speaking at a news conference at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago, said: "If all you do is surgery, even if you do a beautiful job, the tumor will be back in one or two months" without other treatments.

Kennedy was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor called a glioma, a type of tumor that usually kills within three years, after suffering a seizure on May 17.