Doctors advance against cancer

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Vanessa Koppel of Cherry Hill, N.J., began fighting for her life in September 2006 when she found out she had Hodgkin's lymphoma.

"I was really active and ate well. I was young," said the 27-year-old fitness instructor, who was terrified of chemotherapy and radiation.

"What was God putting in my life and why?" she said she wondered.

Miss Koppel's battle led her to the Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) in Philadelphia, one of the privately held facilities in a network that focuses on integrative care. It provides each patient with oncologists, radiologists, surgeons, nutritionists, naturopaths, mind/body doctors and spiritual counselors in one place, with a coordinated treatment plan.

Miss Koppel said CTCA "heard my concerns ... actually talked to me."

Over the past few decades, the medical field has experienced several advancements in the fight against cancer, a complex group of diseases characterized by rapidly multiplying abnormal cells. Today, new drugs and treatment plans are available, and new methods are used to care for cancer patients. CTCA is one such advancement.

Cancer cost about $219 billion in direct medical expenses and lost work productivity last year alone, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Each year, the disease claims about a half-million lives in the United States.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) predicts that 1.4 million cancer cases will be diagnosed this year and that about 565,650 people will die from the disease. About 170,000 of the cases will be tied to tobacco use.

Still, many more people are becoming cancer survivors. One of them is Miss Koppel, who finished treatment in the fall and is cancer-free.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimated that 10.8 million Americans with a history of cancer were alive in January 2004, meaning some were cancer-free and others still had evidence of cancer and may have been undergoing treatment.