It's important to remember where we started with our knowledge about cancer to see just how far we have come in fighting this disease.

Today many types of cancer is considered another manageable disease, just like diabetes or heart disease. Radiation Oncologist Constantine Mantz explains, "I think we are curing more patients then we were before so recent statistics from the national cancer institute and various other organizations bear out that as fact. And I don't think it's an accident."

Breast cancer survivor Bonnie Olson believes that finding cancer early, no matter what type of cancer it is, is key to surviving the disease. "Early detection saves lives and we have to be familiar with our bodies."

Dr. Mantz says that advancements have not only been made in screening for and treating cancer surgically but also in the field of medicine. "We've become smarter and better on how to use drugs for chemotherapy, how to use radiation therapy to treat cancers and I think this has all translated to an benefit for us as a nation."

Dr. Mantz also says, "and the improvements are still coming. And so there is increasing hope as the years go on that this disease will become increasingly curable and less problematic for folks."

If these trends continue then we can look forward to cancer being diagnosed much sooner with treatments that are more effective and have less side effects.

The latest cancer advancement was just last year in 2006 when the FDA approved Gardasil, a vaccine that protects against the virus that causes most cervical cancers.