So many people have asked this question – those who are living with cancer, those whose families have been touched by the disease and those who fear that cancer might be in their future.
The good news is that research has increased our understanding of the many diseases called cancer, leading to better treatments and improved prevention and risk reduction strategies. Today, over 60 per cent of Canadians diagnosed with cancer will survive at least five years after their diagnosis. In the 1940s, survival was about 25 per cent.
Some experts doubt that we’ll ever find a single, universal cure for cancer, which isn’t really a single disease but actually more than 200 different diseases. Yet researchers have uncovered a staggering amount of information about cancer over the past two decades and will continue to do so in the coming decades.
This revolution in our understanding of cancer has set the stage for a new era in cancer therapy and prevention, due in part to the many studies and clinical trials funded by the Canadian Cancer Society.
Courtesy Canadian Cancer Society