Milestone Month for Many Kinds of Cancer Awareness

September is a major month in the fight against cancer, with three main offenders of the disease highlighted: childhood cancers, ovarian cancer, and prostate cancer. All take too many lives every year, and all have the potential to be stopped in their tracks if we band together to do our part.
Here at Scrubin we are committed to fighting the good fight, and we know you are too! Read on to find out how you can help.

Childhood Cancer
Nothing is more heartbreaking than seeing or hearing about a young child battling a life-threatening illness. Sadly, more than 260,000 children have to do just that every year. Some form of cancer will afflict one in 330 children before the age of 30. Childhood cancers spare no ethnic group, no demographic, makes no class distinction. And unlike some other forms of cancer, there are currently few paths to prevention.

The solutions are early detection, effective treatment, and overall public awareness. And there is good news: significant progress continues to be made. The mortality rate for many childhood cancers have been cut in half in recent years, and the survival rate for many childhood cancers is now as high as 86 percent. There has been considerable success with certain clinical trials, and studies show a greater efficacy in treatment options.

But this is a fight still far from being won.  As always funds for additional research are needed. And then there is the more personal support, volunteering to help in your community and let these little heroes know they are not alone.

Ovarian Cancer
This cancer is particularly insidious form of the disease. If detected in its earliest stages, the survival rate is close to 90 percent. Unfortunately, less than 20 percent of cases are detected this early. Why? The disease usually presents few symptoms in its early stages, and it is a disease for which we still do not have adequate early screening.

The key is prevention, and catching the as early as possible. Know the risk factors. Educate yourself, and all the women in your life about what steps can be taken.

Become an advocate today in the fight against Ovarian Cancer!

Prostate Cancer
Next to skin cancer, cancer of the prostate is the most common form of the disease in the United States., and the most common among American men. Older or elderly men especially are vulnerable: the rates of prostate cancer are as high as 80 percent for men who live beyond the age of 80.

But it is, thankfully, a slow-growing form of cancer, and the success rate is very high if it’s caught early enough. Again, the key is early detection. All men — let’s repeat  this, for good measure — ALL MEN, need to be screened. The examination is quick and easy, and there’s no reason not to be conscientious about it.

That compares very favorably to the side effects of prostate removal which can be painful or discouraging for the patient. So again, let’s stress early detection and screening. This is a cancer that can actually be stopped for good!

A diagnosis of cancer, any kind of cancer, is terrifying for the person who’s hearing that news. By doing all we can to advance research, and also taking the time to get screened ourselves, hopefully we can soon end this terrible disease in all its forms so those affected can lead happy, healthy lives.