That is a very depressing reality and a dire predicament that a large number of cancer victims have to resign themselves to coping with. All that pain and suffering and still not cancer free.

What can they or should they do at that point when all seems lost? In most cases it comes back to how accepting they have become to their likely fate. Many spend their last months preparing for the inevitable by saying goodbye to loved ones. Many others attempt to complete their version of a "wish list." By trying to accomplish things that they have long desired to do but just didn't find the time or resources to get done.

Others go into a deep depression, withdraw into a shell and never quite come to terms with their fate. Yet, others choose to be very active participants in their outcome and are committed to try to somehow fight a war to the bitter end with their cancer.

This last group who seem to fervently believe in hope and self determination tend to be very aggressive at researching and trying to find information that will give them a real chance at beating their cancer. They know of and believe the existing stories of cancer victims who were determined to fight cancer to the bitter end and won!

Fortunately enough for them, over the past seventy years a lot of research has been conducted on cancer. Coming out of that research and clinical trials are some really good data that gives real hope. Unfortunately, the problem is, getting effective treatment protocols from the research lab into clinical trials and ultimately to frontline physicians takes a very long time. In some instances a decade or longer. Most cancer victims don't have the luxury of waiting years for these new treatments to make it to the frontlines in the war against cancer. They are now measuring time in terms of months not years!

What if solid clinical and peer reviewed trials had been done that showed a cancer treatment protocol that was effective but for whatever reason had not made it into the hands of the front line physicians. Should that be a reason for real hope and celebration?

Well for those cancer victims who truly want to be an advocate for their own salvation, there are many reasons to believe that seventy years of research has already given us the answers and solutions that are needed to defeat the enemy known as cancer. The only question that remains is "Where and how do I find it?"