Yesterday was World Cancer Day. Cancer is a horrific disease that sometimes can kill people slowly over years, ending up in a painful lingering death. One in four of us will be touched by cancer at some point in our lives, yet the incidence is rising. As our food becomes more and more processed and subjected to chemical procedures, we increase the risk of contracting the disease. It does not discriminate between sexes, ages or whether or not we are a good person. Cancer is a deadly killer.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, however. While cancer rates are increasing, it must also be pointed out that survival rates are increasing too, as medicine and technology continues to move forwards in leaps and bounds.

The key to it all is awareness and early detection. Most people are familiar with the commonest forms of cancer for men and women – prostate and breast cancer –  with both forms of the disease having awareness months dedicated to them, October and November respectively.

But there are many other cancers... colon, stomach, leukaemia, lung cancer, thyroid cancer and many others. And that is where people need to be aware of symptoms. Some cancers are relatively easy to detect. All it takes is a simple blood test to identify particular pathogens that cause the disease. But that is where our own aura of invincibility needs to be shed, particularly amongst men.

Malta’s healthcare has also made huge advances, and we now have a state of the art Oncology centre which can cater for most forms of cancer in a modern environment, which is far cry from the awful conditions which patients had to endure at the old Boffa hospital.

The more time advances, the more we seem to be able to pinpoint cancer and destroy it without harming people’s bodies with the terrible (yet sometimes completely necessary) concoction which is chemotherapy.

A combination of nano surgery, micro surgery and improved radiation treatment has allowed for aggressive cancer treatment without actually destroying people’s bodies in the process. While this is all true, and very positive, there are those who lose their battle. We saw recently in the international news that treasured people such as David Bowie, Alan Rickman and Terry Wogan all succumbed to the disease. And this is where words of praise come in for the Hospice Movement, which, with limited resources, continues to try and make the last weeks and months of cancer patients lives more comfortable.

The extraordinary effort that people put in to give dignity to cancer patients is indeed commendable, admirable and a great service to the country. In time, cancer treatment will continue to improve. It is indeed one of life’s greatest ironies that cells inside our bodies can mutate, sucking the life out of us while they grow into a symbiotic life  form which eventually kills it, along with its host. Cancer is a killer. But with continued awareness and investment in medicine and science, we may one day beat it.