In Honor of National Cancer Survivors Day: Recognizing the Researchers

June 1, 2008 is National Cancer Survivors Day! Learn how you can participate in the Celebration of Life in your community by visiting the official website for National Cancer Survivors Day. 

I recently read an impressive article on Cancer Survival Rates on the St. Jude Research Center website (http://www.stjude.org/). What impressed me the most was how far medical research has advanced in the last 60 years. And on National Cancer Survivors Day, it's important to recognize how fortunate we are today because of the research, sacrifices of our predecessors and time-tested cancer treatments that faced young children and teens a generation ago. 

The article goes on to say that currently, one in every 350 individuals in the U.S. develops some type of cancer before the age of 20. In the 1940’s and 1950’s, few children survived cancer. 

But in the 1960s, researchers discovered ways to design therapies using chemotherapy drugs and combinations of different treatment modalities such as chemo, radiation and surgery. These new approaches resulted in increasing numbers of patients experiencing sustained remission and cures.

In honor of National Cancer Survivors Day and the Celebration of Life, please don't forget to recognize the incredible researchers who have brought us this far and continue to bring us closer to a cure!