Celebrities Who Have Survived Cancer

Being diagnosed with cancer is a frightening experience. The disease can strike anyone, anywhere, at any age. It is no respecter of persons. It attacks rich and poor, young and old, the famous and the unknowns, all over the world.

However, there are more and more cancer cures occurring. Intensive research is being carried on every day and new treatments and combination of treatments are being discovered and tested all the time. There is much reason for hope.

A cancer diagnosis is no longer a certain indicator of imminent death. With good medical care, an optimistic and determined attitude, and the love and support of family and friends, cancer can often be beaten. Following, there is a list of well-known personalities who have confronted and overcome the disease.

* Lance Armstrong is a world-renowned athlete and cyclist who has won the Tour de France seven times. In 1996, he was found to have prostate cancer, which had spread to his stomach, lungs and brain. He was treated with surgery and chemotherapy and today he is cancer-free. He is continuing with his cycling career. He has established the Lance Armstrong Foundation which funds cancer research and helps those fighting the disease.

* Colin Powell is a retired United States Army General and held the position of sixty-fifth Secretary of State (2001-2004) under President George W. Bush. In 2003, at the age of 66, he had his cancerous prostate gland removed. He is presently classed as a cancer survivor.

* Actress Kate Jackson, one of most famous of "Charlie's Angels", from the TV show of the same name, is a two-time breast cancer survivor. After the first diagnosis in 1987, she opted for a "lumpectomy" , removal only of the cancerous growth, while leaving the breast intact. When the cancer recurred in 1989, she had a partial mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. She is presently cancer-free.

* British singer and song-writer Rod Stuart was found to have a malignant growth on the thyroid gland in his throat, during a routine check-up in 2001. The cancer was surgically removed. Rod related that he had to completely retrain his voice after the operation, but now feels that he is singing better than ever.

* Ronald Reagan, at age 74, during his term in office as President of the United States, was diagnosed with colon cancer. He had surgery to remove the tumor in 1985 and the operation was successful. He had skin cancers removed in 1987 and 1995. He died at age 93 in 2004, of pneumonia related to Alzheimer's Disease.

* Sharon Osbourne is the manager and wife of heavy metal musician Ozzie Osbourne and the mother of three children. In 2002, at age 50, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. It was treated with surgery and chemotherapy. There has been no recurrence. Sharon's autobiography, " Sharon Osbourne Extreme: My Autobiography".

* Perhaps best known for his role as Willy Wonka in the film "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", actor Gene Wilder is another cancer survivor. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 1999 and was treated with chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. He is in complete remission. In recent years, he has turned to writing and produced an autobiography in 2005.

It is probable that each reader can add the name of one or more friends or relatives to the above list of cancer survivors. There are many causes for optimism.

Consider the diseases already conquered by science: smallpox, diphtheria, polio, whooping cough, plague, rabies, scarlet fever and rickets to mention only a few.

While scientists continue to work towards a cancer cure, each of us has an important, supportive role to play. We must escalate the fight to ban toxic chemicals from the environment, overcome bad habits like smoking, and adopt healthier eating regimens.

With everyone doing his or her part, cancer will be conquered. It's only a matter of time...