About the Program

It’s been more than thirty years since President Nixon declared war on cancer.  His goal was to find a cure. In those days, scientists had not yet discovered what we know today: that cancer is a hundred different diseases, triggered by such intersecting factors as heredity, lifestyle and environment. Until recently, doctors focused treatment on specific target areas, killing the tumor, as well as the healthy cells surrounding it. But today, doctors are rethinking that strategy. Thanks to the mapping of the human genome, the future will involve a tailored approach to treatment, based on a cancer patient’s individual profile.

Diagnosis Cancer explores that future in a 1-hour town meeting, featuring such experts as Dr. William Hait, Director of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Dr. Michael Harris, Director of Tomorrows Children’s Institute at Hackensack University Medical Center, and Dr. Clifton R. Lacy, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. Sara Lee Kessler, NJN's Emmy Award-winning Health & Medical Correspondent, is the host.

According to the 2004 American Cancer Society statistics, New Jersey has the grim distinction of being ranked #1 in prostate cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and male colorectal cancer.  A woman living in New Jersey is more likely to die of Breast Cancer than a woman in any other state. There is also a widening gap between blacks and whites in both cancer incidence and cancer death rates. In 2004, 44,000 New Jerseyans will have learned they have cancer. The disease will have claimed the lives of 18,000 people, accounting for one in four of the state’s deaths. Yet, millions of Americans, both in New Jersey and across the nation, are alive years after being diagnosed with cancer. And today, doctors are no longer reluctant to use the word “cure” when it comes to cancer.

Diagnosis Cancer examines those issues, as it explores the cutting edge of cancer research, including gene therapy, cancer vaccines, and drugs that cut off the blood supply to tumors. We visit two drug companies, Merck and Roche, to learn from scientists what’s in the drug pipeline. We visit hospitals and labs to look at the latest treatment options, including clinical trials. We also hear first-hand from patients, including teens, who talk frankly about what it’s like to hear the word “cancer” for the first time and to survive it. We also learn about the importance of cancer screenings, early detection, and what you, as an individual, can do to reduce your risk of cancer.

According to Dr. Lacy, “It’s well recognized that cancer incidence is higher in the northeastern states, and that goes for New Jersey as well. The causes are multi-factorial. It begins with genetics, then lifestyle-including tobacco use, alcohol use, sun exposure, infections, there are environmental factors."

Putting all these together, it appears though that some sub-segments of the New Jersey population seem to be enriched in these factors. The good news, however, is that in the last 5 years (of study), 1996 through 2000, of the fifteen types of cancer looked at, the incidence of cancer has declined in eleven of those fifteen sites. And in thirteen of the 15 sites, mortality rates have declined in the state.”

Diagnosis Cancer premiered on NJN Public Television and Radio on April 2, 2004 at 9 pm.