Senator Edward Kennedy enjoyed Father's Day weekend surrounded by family at his home in Hyannis Port, Mass., as he prepared to "do battle" as radiation and chemotherapy treatments for his brain cancer loom in the weeks ahead, his son, Representative Patrick Kennedy, said.

The Rhode Island congressman, speaking to the Associated Press, said that his father had been comforted by the company of friends and family in recent days, but that they were also aware he needed moments of quiet and breaks from entertaining as he fights a cancerous brain tumor.

"Everyone wants to be with him. But we also need to give him space and time to recover, where he doesn't have to be 'on,' " he said. "He's been through a lot. We want him to be strong for when he needs to do battle."

The Massachusetts senator returned to his Cape Cod home on June 9, a week after undergoing an aggressive surgery for a malignant glioma at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. He will undergo further treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where he was first diagnosed with the lethal tumor last month.

The younger Kennedy spoke late Saturday at a gala for the Diabetes Foundation of Rhode Island, where he received an award for support of the group and diabetes issues.

He would not say when his father would start radiation and chemotherapy, but he said he was considering a pill form of chemotherapy that would allow him to stay home for treatment. Radiation treatments would take about 15 minutes each, he said. The course of the treatment will depend largely on how his father feels, he said, adding that advances in medicine have provided more options.

"When my brother had cancer, it was one type of chemo for all types of cancer. Now, it's such specific chemo for specific types of cancer. Now they have it in pill form in addition to I-V form," he said. "It makes it much more accessible for him. That's a great thing."

Patrick Kennedy's older brother, Edward Jr., had bone cancer at age 12.

Edward Kennedy attended Mass at his Cape Cod home Saturday with his sister, Eunice Shriver, his son said. He also has been sailing in recent days with his son and with his niece, Maria Shriver, wife of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California. Other visitors to the Kennedy home have included Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut, as well as buddies from his days at Harvard University and the University of Virginia Law School, Patrick Kennedy said.

He said the family was gathering again yesterday to celebrate Father's Day and might go sailing if the weather cooperates.

The younger Kennedy said he expects the presidential season will give his father a respite from politics, as Washington shifts its attention to the campaign. That will give his father time to focus on his recovery and get ready for January, when he hopes to see Senator Barack Obama move into the White House.

Then he can focus on healthcare, an issue he calls his father's top priority in his more than 45 years in office.

"I think my dad's going to be ready," he said. "In a sense, he's fought for everyone else his whole life. This really personalizes it."