I knew it was bad for me, but I guess I always thought it would happen to someone else. Now 75, Mr. Sykes has outlived his doctor's early estimate that he had about four to 18 months to live. Seven months of chemotherapy and five weeks of radiation treatments have not eliminated his tumor, but apparently have stopped its growth. The American Cancer Society contends that up to 65 percent of the cancer deaths in Ohio could be prevented without spending another dime on medical research. All it would take is smokers kicking their habits and everybody actually getting the mammograms and prostate exams they are supposed to get.
Early detection makes a powerful difference in curing many types of cancer.
For example, catch breast cancer while the tumor is still small and localized and the five-year survival rate is 97 percent. Catch it after tumors spread to other parts of the body and survival dips to just 22 percent. For lung cancer, however, prevention is key. Unlike mammograms for breast cancer, there is no reliable and widely used screening test for lung cancer. Lung cancer isn't a very sexy disease.