Taking the cancer fight to the road

Cancer is the No. 1 killer of Americans under age 85. In Texas alone, an estimated 34,960 people will die from the disease this year. As someone who has lost loved ones to cancer, I hope we all find these numbers unacceptable. It is time to recommit our nation to the war on cancer - and that challenge begins here at home.

This fall, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is bringing the cancer fight to our backyards through a nationwide bus tour. The Fight Back Express will be in parked at the Presidential Museum in Odessa at 3 p.m. today and will be on the road through Nov. 4, building a grassroots movement united in its mission to defeat cancer and determined to put cancer at the top of the nation's agenda.

ACS CAN, the sister advocacy organization of the American Cancer Society, is committed to evidence-based policy and legislation that boost cancer research funding at all levels, broaden access to cancer prevention methods, early detection tools and treatment and strengthen tobacco control measures.

Everyone who attends this event will be able to actually "sign the bus." All signatures will be delivered to Congress, when it convenes after the election to show elected officials just how many Americans want a cure for cancer and want it now!

Too many of us continue to lose loved ones who fought valiantly to win their personal wars against cancer. It is time to fight back. If one person can battle this disease, a nation can defeat it!

If the government can miraculously find $700 billion dollars to bail out financial institutions that got themselves in a mess, then surely they can find $70 million to fund early detection programs and research to save the lives of the Americans who are diagnosed with cancer every day, every year.

Find out more about the ACS CAN Fight Back Express at www.acscan.org.