12:04 PM PDT on Thursday, June 15, 2006

By JEAN ENERSEN / KING 5 News

Cancer is no longer the death sentence it once was. Advances in surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatment have more than tripled the number of American survivors in the last three decades.

KING

There are more than 10 million Americans today who are living with cancer, and that doesn't even include those with skin cancer who have been treated and moved on.

"I see upwards of 90 percent of people who are diagnosed with cancer living long, full lives," said Dr. Karen Syrjalav of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. "I see a real change as we move to earlier detection of cancer because that's our best hope for not only a full cure but the fewest long-term effect of treatment."

What has led to this progress? Experts cite many factors including:

- Improvements in early detection, such as mammography, prostate screening, and colonoscopy

- A better understanding of the cause of cancer and how cancer develops in people

- The development of new technology that improves the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and

- Newer and safer drugs

- Nearly two thirds of people who get cancer now will live more than five years after their diagnosis. One thing is clear: a cancer diagnosis is in many cases no longer the death notice it once was. Cancer has moved from a being an acute illness to a chronic condition.

But coping with the disease and the treatment raises new issues, not just for patients, but for family and friends too.

In this KING 5 HealthLink special, hear the stories of:

- Dr. Teri Brentnall, an internationally renowned researcher in pancreatic cancer at the University of Washington Medical Center. A cancer survivor herself, Brentnall is using her breakthrough studies to help others fight the disease.

- Reverend Debra Jarvis, an ordained minister and a chaplain who has counseled cancer patients for more than a decade. Ironically, Debra was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Her experiences as an oncology chaplain with cancer, have inspired her new book, It’s Not About The Hair.

- Susan Butcher, who has been called, “the best competitive dog sled racer in the universe.” Today, she is also a cancer survivor. Susan draws parallels between her battling blizzards on the trail where she’s won the Iditarod 4 times…to her battle with leukemia. She has also become an advocate in educating others about the importance of bone marrow registries across the country.

- Eloise Evans, an 11-year-old cancer survivor who has been in remission for more than half of her life. A tumor near her brain when she was just 4 was inoperable. But thanks to modern medicine, doctors are optimistic that Eloise will live a long and productive life. She represents the next generation of those “living with cancer.”

They are just some of the profiles of extraordinary survivors featured in Living with Cancer.