HHS HealthBeat (June 22, 2011)

Living with cancer

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Cancer is scary, but advances in detection and treatment over the past 30 years have made it less scary for some of the most common cancers. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers track data on cancer. The CDC’s Arica White says people thought that a cancer diagnosis was a death sentence, but it’s not necessarily true:

``Persons living with a history of cancer are now described as cancer survivors, rather than cancer victims, with almost 60 percent of people living five years after they were diagnosed.’’ (10 seconds)

Screening tests can help to spot cancers early, when they can be best treated.

White’s study, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, was in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: June 21, 2011