Helping fight cancer is up to all of us, because it affects many

Fighting cancer is up to all of us

Date published: 2/9/2010

WHEN I was little, it seemed like only "old people" got sick or died. Now, it seems like people of all ages are fighting, and sometimes losing, the battle with cancer.

Last night I went to the funeral home to honor a friend who lost a five-year battle with cancer. He was 49 and left behind a wife and three boys, the oldest only 14.

Several weeks ago, I went to the funeral home for a precious first-grader who died of cancer.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the funeral of a grandfather who died from cancer.

My husband's uncle is fighting cancer right now, as well as my aunt. Both our grandfathers died from cancer, and I lost an aunt to the disease.

Our friends have a little boy who has been struggling with cancer almost since he was born.

I have three neighbors who are cancer survivors.

My mother-in-law is a cancer survivor, along with hosts of other friends and family members. The list just goes on and on.

If you stop to think about it, you can probably tally up a large number of people you know who are either being treated for cancer, have died from it or are in remission.

It's worth taking the time to think about it because it's an issue that at some point will touch each and every one of us. And, it's equally important that we all share in the fight against cancer instead of just leaving it to the families who are directly affected.

According to the American Cancer Society Web site, 1,479,350 people were expected to be newly diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. in 2009. In Virginia, 34,150 people were expected to be diagnosed in 2009.

In the U.S., men have slightly less than a one in two chance of developing cancer in their lifetime. Women have slightly better odds, with a little more than one in three getting cancer.

There are a few bright spots on the ACS Web site. The five-year survival rate for cancers diagnosed between 1996 and 2004 is 66 percent, up from 50 percent between 1975 and 1977.

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Date published: 2/9/2010