My breast was barely pink. I haven't suffered. I didn't even get tired. The work under way here could touch millions of Americans in the next decade because more than half of all cancer patients receive some type of radiotherapy, according to the American Cancer Society. Since 1990, about 12 million new cancer cases have been diagnosed nationwide.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in southeast Michigan.
We're answering some of the nagging questions that have always been there. James Balter, a clinical physicist with the University of Michigan Hospital, said this region is on the cutting edge of the new radiation treatments, thanks to efforts underway at U-M, Beaumont Hospital, the Karmanos Cancer Institute and Henry Ford Hospital. Most patients are stuck with the traditional treatment that doctors admit are comparatively crude. Residents in Metro Detroit and a few other cities are best situated to receive the new therapies, which could take years to become available to all patients here. And, it could take even longer for the treatments to arrive in rural areas around the country.