Beating Cancer

Beating Cancer

Making progress in the long war

Cancer has touched almost all of us in one way or another. Its fast-growing cells aggressively multiply and spread. Its pernicious effects take hold of our family, our friends and even ourselves.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the staggering statistics—15.5 million Americans are cancer survivors, according to the National Cancer Institute and American Cancer Society.

But we are waging war on cancer. As part of the Cancer MoonShot 2020 initiative, the best and brightest minds are working feverishly toward a cure. Precision medicine and immunotherapy treatments offer hope to many.

Fortunately, people are living longer after being told that they have cancer, thanks to earlier detection and better treatments. But cancer survivors face many challenges as they embark on the long healing process, repairing the toll that cancer takes on their body and their psyche, as well as on their family, jobs and relationships.

Despite the pain, there are bright lights in the cancer struggle. We celebrate the progress of physicians and researchers, of cancer survivors and their families, and of the many people who hope, one day, to win the war against cancer.


Originally published in the Spring 2017 print edition