Category Archives: Cancer

Stopping Cancer

CancerDeathRatesZoomWe are making progress stopping cancer through research.  We hear about new drugs and therapies on a regular basis, but we have a long way to go.  Lung, prostate and colon-rectal cancers are the most dangerous in men, and lung, breast and colon-rectal cancers are the most dangerous for women, according to the American Cancer Society.

Fortunately, thanks to past research, most people diagnosed with cancer survive at least 5 years, although the survival stats Continue reading Stopping Cancer

One Goal: End Cancer.

Newsweek Cancer IssueAbout 30 years ago Newsweek devoted an entire issue to the topic of Cancer.  In the introduction to the issue they made the point that we will never see “a cure for cancer”, because, unlike many other diseases like heart, kidney, liver diseases and diabetes, cancer is actually a family of diseases.  And the family is very diverse.  While some cancers have known cures, others remain challenging.  One important element toward developing a cure for a given type of cancer is to fully understand the conditions and processes that lead to its development, and that takes basic research.  The kind that public and private universities do so well. Continue reading One Goal: End Cancer.

Summer News

Photo by Jennifer Rodrequez
Photo by Jennifer Rodriguez

When I was in sixth grade at Lincoln Elementary School in Galva, Illinois, the town built a swimming pool at a new park that was within sight of the school.  My friends and I could not believe our luck.  In the entire history of the town, nothing as big had ever happened (well, for sixth graders anyway).  When the grand opening was scheduled for the day school was let out for the summer, we laid our plans to be the first in line.  That’s just what we did.  We checked in on the first day and did not leave until the day it closed at the end of the summer.  We had so much fun!

That was a long time ago in the days before Continue reading Summer News