Don't get me wrong. We must continue to support the goal of conquering cancer. But we must ask the National Cancer Institute to allocate more funding for prevention, and we must research better, more accurate diagnostics.

When cancer knocks on our body, we become refugees within our own selves. Forces stronger then we can control seem to guide our being toward death.

While we cannot completely repair the physical and emotional damage inflicted by cancer, we should have higher expectations for the results of treatment.

In many GOP primary debates on many topics, not once have I heard a serious discussion of the No. 1 health-related killer in the world: cancer.

We have become a nation where our leaders can throw billions at places like Goldman Sachs, which does nothing to touch the lives of average Americans, but underfund the war against cancer, which touches almost every family.

We want you to put aside your frustrations and your cynicism about cancer. We want you to become invigorated and reinvested in the fight against cancer -- with good reason.

Scientists know more than ever before about the mechanisms of cancer and how to stop its spread. Yet the new numbers we're seeing are victories in skirmishes, not battles.