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SALT LAKE CITY — All she ever wanted was to be a grandmother and she'd been accumulating various ideas and activities to do with her prospective grandchildren for years.
But then doctors discovered a large, mass in Marion Peterson's armpit, as well as 17 (of 20) cancerous lymph nodes in the same general area.
It is good news that so many are surviving cancer and leading long, productive and healthy lives.
–Dr. Thomas R. Frieden
"I cried and cried because I had never seen anyone survive with so many lymph nodes affected," Peterson said, but she was determined to make it.
The early detection and aggressive therapy, along with having good doctors, helped. But most of all, Peterson believes that prayers offered by so many, even people she didn't know, of varying religious backgrounds and in far-off places, have kept her alive to enjoy her nine grandchildren since the cancer was detected in 1998.
Peterson is not out of the woods yet, as the cancer could come back, but she joins the more than 11.7 million cancer survivors in the United States today — a number that is increasing as early detection and prevention methods are becoming more widespread.
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The CDC reports that the majority of today's cancer survivors are women winning the battle against breast cancer. Prostate and colorectal cancers are also common among survivors. Nearly 65 percent of cancer survivors are now living at least five years or more after their diagnosis of cancer and 59 percent of them are over age 65.
Just 40 years ago, the numbers paled in comparison, when only 3 million were counted as survivors of cancer. Then, a much higher number became victims of the largely unexplained disease.
"It is good news that so many are surviving cancer and leading long, productive and healthy lives," said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Approximately 1.1 million of the 11.7 million cancer survivors had lived with a cancer diagnosis for 25 or more years; of those, 75.4% were females. -CDC
The CDC attributes increasing survivorship to earlier detection, improved diagnostic methods, more effective treatment, improved clinical follow-up after treatment and an aging U.S. population. If these trends continue, the number of cancer survivors is expected to increase further.
"Preventing cancer and detecting it early remain critically important as some cancers can be prevented or detected early enough to be effectively treated," Frieden said. Smoking cessation or not smoking, regular physical activity, healthy eating, and limiting alcohol use, he said, can reduce the risk of many cancers.
In Utah, the number of people who die each year from cancer, has either been stable or declining since the late 90s. With just over 2,500 lives lost per year in Utah, it is still well below the national averages. Certain types of cancer, however, seem to be rising, including melanoma of the skin and thyroid cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.
I'm really glad that the world of medicine was there to help me.
–Marion Peterson
The NCI and CDC work together to track and research statistics surrounding cancer incidence, to better understand cancer survivorship and find out what it takes to make it.
Peterson, who worked for the American Cancer Society prior to her diagnosis, said friends and family made a world of difference to her in her struggle to beat cancer. After a double mastectomy, she said she feels "really proud to be a survivor."
"I'm really glad that the world of medicine was there to help me," she said. But never knowing her own grandmother, Peterson feels her dreams kept her going.
E-mail:wleonard@ksl.com
