There have been so many people diagnosed with cancer over recent years. It almost seems to be more frequent than less, depite the advances being made. Stand Up To Cancer, announced today by Katie Couric, Charles Gibson and Brian Williams, is an event planned for September where all three networks will do a prime time broadcast simultaneously.

The subject of cancer touches close to home, and Stand Up To Cancer is a great idea. A close friend with a family history of breast cancer was just diagnosed. Unbelievably, she’s a research pharmacist who has worked in breast cancer research for almost 20 years. She helped her company, a major pharmaceutical company, work on breast cancer treatment drugs used in chemotherapy. She’s obviously very familiar with what’s available for breast cancer treatment, because she stays up to date with all the latest research.

Fortunately, she recognized the signs of breast cancer early on, and has been able to have her cancer treated with radiation and chemotherapy. But there still so many people out there who have no idea of how to spot breast cancer symptoms, and NBC, ABC, and CBS are going to be providing a great service with Stand Up To Cancer.

Of course, the most common breast cancer symptom is a lump in the breast … but remember, not all lumps are necessarily cancerous. Throughout a woman’s life she’s likely to feel changes in her breast, particularly during times of hormonal changes such as puberty and menopause. And some women just have lumpy breasts … really, I’m serious! But obviously, if you’re worried about any changes or anything unusual in your breasts, it’s vitally important to see a doctor early, as my friend did.

Part of her work involves tracking breast cancer patients as they go through treatment, looking for trends and patterns. If a common theme can be found, then perhaps a new treatment can be developed that will help in early prevention and effective breast cancer treatments. The strongest pattern my friend’s found so far is that a positive attitude helps patients to respond well; it pays to be a fighter in the war against cancer and other diseases.