Personal Statement: Finding A Cure For Cancer Among Children

Cancer is a word which evokes many different images and emotions. Nothing in this world can prepare a person for the utter devastation of finding out someone has been diagnosed with cancer, especially when this person is a child. Over the past twenty five years the amount of research and the survival rate for children suffering with cancer have increased dramatically. Despite these successes, the funding for new research necessary to keep these children alive and healthy is miniscule and too dependent on short term grants. Of the billions of dollars spent each year on cancer treatments and research less than a third is contributed to researching pediatric cancer. Given the media focus on adult cancers, research for pediatric cancer is

Cancer is the most common disease that causes death in the United States. It is actually the second leading cause of death behind heart disease. Some people do not realize it but children can also get cancer. This is call childhood cancer and it amongst children from 0-17 years old. Childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease past infancy among children in the United States. At a very young age, childhood cancer had impacted my life physically, mentally and emotionally. It definitely changed my perspective on how I will live my life through on out.

The prime condition of success ,the great secret ,is to concentrate my energy , thought ,and capital exclusively upon business in cancer .Having begun in research ,resolve to fight it out , to lead in it , adopt every improvement ,have the best machinery, and know the most about it .Two passions ,simple but overwhelmingly strong ,has governed my life : the search for knowledge and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.I have sought knowledge . I have wished to understand the causes of cancer . I have wished to know why people die . And I have tried to apprehend the breakthrough in cancer treatment written by Gleevec who discovered the approach was to target the disease at the cellular and subcellular level .A little of this ,but not much , I have achieved.I long to alleviate the pain of cancer . As the mathematician Jules Henri Poincare said, Science is built with facts just as a house is built with bricks .I would take approaches as many scientists do .Scientist start an investigation by finding out what other scientists have learned about a particular problem.After known the facts have been gathered , the scientist come to the part of the investigation that requires considerable imagination . Possible problem are formulated. The scientists plans experiments,performs calculations,and makes observations to test hypotheses.When hypotheses are confirmed ,they are incorporated into theories. If I become a scientist

Through the study, I have found out that there is minimum research in pediatric cancer and many parents from poor families find it difficult to pay for medical fee. In addition, funding for research will be effective in curbing the effects of cancer in children even as they transit to adulthood.

b. Our cells are programed to know when to grow, divide, and when to die, with that said just like any other machine, if these “parts” within our DNA do not work then that is when our machine goes off track and starts breaking down.

For years people have been looking for a cure for the devastating disease of cancer. Cancer is the third highest killer in the US with over 2,500,000 victims per year. Oncologists and scientists around the country are researching all forms of cancer in an effort to understand, treat, and ultimately defeat this disease. Already there have been numerous advances in the field, such as chemotherapy and gene therapy. One advance has been the use of a cell process known as apoptosis. By harnessing this normal cell process, scientists hope to have found an effective way to combat cancer.

Initially named Kids Acting Against Cancer, the non-profit organization currently known as Acting Against Cancer started in 1999. Jaclyn and Whitten Montgomery decided to combine their love of theater with their desire to assist those who have been impacted by cancer by performing musicals and donating proceeds to local cancer research centers. They started the organization just three years after their mother was diagnosed with Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The two discovered the cancer’s prevalence in the population (1 in 50 Americans will develop Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma), which spurred them to start the organization. In the sixteen years that the organization has been around, they have accomplished impressive philanthropic feats as well as became a well-known theatre organization in the Louisville area.

Adolescents diagnosed with cancer face many challenges. A diagnosis of cancer for an adolescent is difficult not only because of the cancer and everything that goes along with it, but also because of the unique aspects of social and psychological development that they are experiencing in this time of their life. Adolescence is difficult enough without the added difficulties of a cancer diagnosis. Evidence suggests that people who undergo cancer treatment as teenagers and young adults experience greater difficulties adjusting than their peers. For example, survivors often experience challenges with social relationships and mental health, are less likely to attend college, and less likely to attain gainful

Cancer is figured to be the second leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. With approximately 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer related deaths in 2012, alone .Why are so many people stuck suffering with this deadly disease? Millions of dollars have been invested into cancer research, yet there is no cure. Are these pharmaceutical companies focus on finding a cure for cancer or concentrating on elongated treatments in order to lengthen their pockets? We must first understand that cancer is big business earning huge profits. Nonetheless, the cancer industry is spending virtually zilch of its multi-billion dollar resources on effective prevention strategies, like dietary guidelines, exercise, natural remedies and herbs proven to cure cancer. Instead, it pours its money into treating cancer, not preventing or allaying it.

Cancer. We all know someone who has suffered from it or has passed away because of it. Cancer now affects one in every three people, and is the second highest cause of death in the United States. For decades, the medical community has been on the hunt for a cure for cancer, and have been subjected to intense ridicule from the public because of a lack of progression toward a possible cure. In recent years, many scientists, doctors, researchers, and the general public have come to believe that the cure for cancer is being suppressed because of this lack of progress. Those who say it is suppressed claim that the drugs used to treat cancer actually cause cancer, making a patient sicker and sicker. As a result, the patients are forced to spend

As established in the National Cancer Institute, “Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide for children and adolescents in America, accounting for more than 91,250 children that lose their lives to this disease” (National Cancer Institute). Cancer is not considered a terminal illness, but more of a chronic illness because of the intense treatment that the individual has to endure. As a result of this treatment the chances of survival for children suffering from pediatric cancer has increased around 80 percent. The increment in the survival rate has made it possible for many parents to not have to go through the acceptance that they are about to lose their child to a terminal illness, but have coping strategies that will make them adapt to the fear of the reoccurrence of that illness. This illness has a great impact on the patient as well as the family because not only do they have to adapt to this illness physically, but also mentally. Research has shown that there are both short term and long term effects that come into effect when the child is both in treatment and also years after the treatment. The type of cancers that these adolescents have to endure range from leukemia, brain tumors and other cancerous tumors that have appeared in recent medical studies. These tumors can either be benignant, an acute case that is non-cancerous or malignant, a cancerous case that will need intense treatment over an extended period of time.While many would say there is more of a

The year is 2086. You look down into the lens of your microscope and with shaky hands, dispense the last drop of the serum on the petri dish and victoriously smile because you have found the cure. After eighty years, you can finally declare that the last cancer cell is dead. Running upstairs to celebrate with your family, you find yourself calling out to a cold and empty house. Painful memories of the past flood your mind with the reality that your wife left after waiting thirty years for you to start a family together. Aside from the loneliness, it can be said that a scientist like you, with a firm belief in research, evidence, and result has lived quite a successful life.

The cure would be the Holy Grail of the 21st century, the ultimate goal of humanity, its most noble cause. In 1971, the then President of the United States Richard Nixon, called scientists in the country and declared the famous "war against cancer." American banks, pharmaceutical companies, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and governments all over the world invested tens of billions of dollars on cancer research. Since then, the number of deaths from cancer increased, impacting more than just economic factors, it also had a huge impact on society. People started to learn more about self-care, things they could do such as using sunscreen, healthy eating habits and the importance of fitness, the danger of cigarettes and many other changes that could help prevent cancer. Therefore, the search for a possible cure for cancer has been motivating people in the

At the age of eight, I was diagnosed with stage three osteosarcoma in my right leg. In an eleven hour surgery, surgeons removed my entire femur. Afterwards, I was always told that I would not be able to do certain things, mainly in the educational area, but time and time again, I have proven medical experts wrong. Since being released from the hospital, I have achieved all A’s, and I have achieved top ten every year. I have ranked number five in my class. Having cancer did not take my life. Instead, cancer gave me a second chance at life. That is why I am so determined to succeed and make the best of the second chance the Heavenly Father has given me and become a pediatric oncologist.

Cancer, one of the most feared words in our vocabulary of this time, especially in childhood (Druker 1). Most people when thinking of “childhood cancer” envision very young children, although a “Nation Institute of Health Policy concerning inclusion of children in clinical research defines children as being younger than twenty-one years of age while the Food and Drug Administration considers children to be fifteen years and younger” (Ries 158). That being said, most cancers incidence peak among children occurs during the first year of life (Gurney 149). Some of the most well-known nationwide childhood cancers are leukemia, brain cancer, and other central nervous system cancers (oeconline 1). In conjunction, “the side effects of treatment,