November 2009

History was made on October 10th, when the National Coalition of Oncology Nurse Navigators (NCONN) held its first annual conference, Changing the Face of Cancer Care,which brought together nurses, social workers, and health care professionals from all over the United States and two Canadian provinces.

Clinical trials are an important step to finding safer and more effective treatments for cancer and ways to detect cancer earlier. Less than 5% of patients with cancer take part in a clinical trial

When Suzanne Lindley was 31 years of age, she received a diagnosis of stage IV colon cancer and was informed that she had 6 months to live. Chemotherapy, both the oncologist and surgeon told her, had severe side effects that were not worth the likely benefit. They suggested Lindley go home and put her personal affairs in order. That was 10 years ago.

Getting patients to stop smoking is rarely easy; even patients with smoking-related lung cancer occasionally continue to smoke. In addition to smoking's cancer-causing properties, it has other serious health effects for patients.

In the 1930s, 25% of people diagnosed with cancer were cured-defined as living cancer-free for at least 5 years. Today, 66% of people diagnosed with cancer will live at least 5 years, and the 10-year survival rates are approximately 59% in adults and 75% in children.