By Vinay Jain, MD

We are at war, but it’s not the war in Iraq we are concerned with in this issue; it’s the war on cancer.

It’s an alarming statistic that one American dies every minute from cancer. That equates to around 1,500 Americans every day, meaning that as chilling as our memories are of Sept. 11, those of us in the cancer community must contend with an equivalent disaster every two days.

But as you will see in our cover story, we are making progress. Not as quickly as anyone would like when lives are at stake, but it is happening. We think there is cause for hope and encouragement in new findings and the speed with which they are coming to light.

In this story we hear from some of those who struggle with issues of research, funding and application. It’s a complicated disease, as anyone who has been there knows. We hope you finish this issue with a sense that there are dedicated men and women who are working tirelessly to put an end to this disease in our lifetime.

On another note, the Summer issue introduced you to some new design elements as well as some new departments, including Special Report and Did You Know?. In the Know is still around, but we renamed it House Call, and News & Noteworthy is now called Drugs in the News. And this time around, we’ve added a couple more changes.

The last page has always been a place for our readers to state their feelings about myriad topics. We are expanding this idea to include decision makers and others in the cancer community who are Speaking Out on an issue. You will still hear from readers, but you will also hear from cancer leaders. In this issue, Ellen Stovall, president and CEO of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, speaks out about clinical trials and the reform needed to make them more accessible and affordable.

We are also adding a page that offers clinical trials in prevention, early detection and complementary therapies, knowing your interest in these growing areas. You’ll also see a new page called Food for Thought that explores issues related to food and the implications diet can have on cancer prevention and overall health.

The changes address our continuing efforts to make CURE the best resource in the country for consumer cancer information.

Which brings me to another issue you have been writing and calling about. We announced the publication of CURE’s sister publication, Heal, last fall. As we began developing Heal, it was with the same standards we approached the creation of CURE: timely and accurate information that can be offered free to the survivor community.

Unfortunately, we have not been able to secure the support we need and are not willing to compromise the product we have promised you. For the moment, Heal is on hold until we can be assured it will be the same high quality as CURE. We hope it will be sooner rather than later, and we will keep you posted.
But CURE is currently planning three Patient & Survivor Forums for 2005. That’s right...three forums. The first will be April 23-24 in Dallas, the second will be July 9-10 in Washington, D.C. with the final forum taking place Oct. 15-16 in Los Angeles.

Our response to the first meeting was so strong that we wanted to be sure everyone across the country would be able to attend at a reasonable cost. For the most up-to-date information on the meeting, go to www.curetoday.com/patientmeeting.