cancer slayer

the unlikely messenger

I’ve spent plenty of hours bad-mouthing our former president and his administration. For reasons too numerous to discuss on this cancer slayer’s blog, W.’s policies represented some of the worse setbacks in our nation’s history. His saving grace, and the one fact likely to prevent me from disliking him forever, has to be his perspective on the government’s role in combating cancer.

In 2002, early in his presidency, W. declared April National Cancer Control Month, with the goal of promoting cancer awareness and encouraging scientists, researchers, and doctors to make advances in treatment and prevention. On first impression, a presidential proclamation might seem insignificant, but its power to set a national agenda can’t be overstated. As Americans, we look to our president to inspire us, to propel us forward as a country. Our commander in chief wields enormous influence simply by the priorities he puts forth.

By encouraging Americans to become knowledgeable about cancer, whether real or feigned, out of desire to incite change or duty of office, W.  contributed to an important dialogue that is getting results. Seven years ago, when he signed the Cancer Control proclamation, 8.9 million people were living with cancer or had beaten the disease. Today, that number is closer to 10 million, an increase likely due to greater awareness. When people are made aware of an issue, they start talking about it. When they start talking about it, they throw their support behind it.

Take for example the campaign to fight breast cancer. From Susan G. Komen to a growing number of celebrities, breast cancer is a disease with no shortage of famous names or spokespeople. Every year, dozens of walks for the cure and numerous charities help attract millions to the cause—in dollars and people. In one of the more creative support efforts, bloggers worldwide post photos of their breasts to raise money for research. That’s pretty darn clever if you ask me. And the publicity is translating into tangible results. The five-year survival rate (the measure of success for all cancers) is 90 percent for breast cancer patients. But really the point to be taken here is that breast cancer survivors and their advocates are a powerful bloc.

Since ovarian cancer is my area of specialty, I’m intent on seeing something similar happen in the battle to defeat gynecological cancers. Not so much the pictures, although that would certainly get people’s attention, but the convergence of scientific minds, medical experts, and women determined to see favorable outcomes.  The five-year survival rate for ovarian cancer patients is about 46 percent, a figure that has increased by a mere 8 percent over the last 30 years. While not too encouraging, I’m convinced that number will rise with each fundraising opportunity, every lecture, and expanded research. It seems like a highly attainable goal, and we might just be headed in the right direction.

Special MRIs are helping doctors catch ovarian cancer at earlier stages, although, overall,  screening methods have produced mixed results. At the University of Minnesota Medical School and Cancer Center, Dr. Levi Downs Jr. is finding new and improved uses for an old drug. Thalidomide, a sleeping pill known to have caused birth defects during the 1950s, is today being used by Dr. Downs to safely and effectively treat ovarian cancer patients. And on April 1, President Obama, whose own mother succumbed to ovarian cancer, re-signed Bush’s proclamation, vowing to press for more research at the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It appears President Obama is intent on heeding W.’s call, and our nation will be the better for it. On Bush’s watch, cancer awareness became a national calling. Within the last five years alone, treatment options have improved tremendously—from chemotherapy to experimental drug trials. Imagine what will happen over the next five.  An unlikely messenger, the 43rd president has little to boast about after two long terms in office, but he can certainly be proud about this aspect of his legacy.

If you’d like to make a donation in your favorite ovarian cancer slayer’s name, head to my Wall of Hope at the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund’s site. Donations in any amount are welcome. Go team cancer fighters!