When it comes to cancer, everyone seems to know at least one person who has been diagnosed. But increased research and technologies hold hope for better cancer prevention in the future. Watch cancer author and consultant Ralph Moss discuss the latest cancer treatments and the hope that one day we can all be cancer free:

Ralph Moss

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“There’s less shame than they’re used to be” about the word “cancer,” Moss said. “Thirty to 40 years ago, I think, cancer was seen as a stigma and you didn’t want to tell anybody. It was the big ‘C’ – the unspoken thing. Now, it’s almost the opposite. …It’s mainly a good thing because it’s removed a lot of the social fear that people felt that went along with the fear of the disease.”

Within alternative and complementary treatments, there are rays of hope, Moss said. Hyperthermia – or heat therapy – and immune therapy hold great promise for cancer treatment. “Now they have varying degrees of acceptance within conventional medicine,” he said. “And I’m sure this is only going to progress as the years go by – we’re going to see more and more incorporation of these modalities into cancer treatment.”

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Will we ever see a day when all of us are cancer free?

“I think we’re really making a lot of progress in terms of understanding cancer. We’re not sure yet how to use the knowledge we’re gaining,” Moss said, adding that progress has been particularly slow in treatment of Stage 4 cancers. “I see real hope. The combined use of things that were considered alternative with things that were considered conventional brings together a new entity called integrative oncology … it can only get better and better.”

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Non-profit organizations and initiatives around the world work tirelessly in the fight for a cure as well. Stand Up 2 Cancer (SU2C) is one groundbreaking initiative bringing together the best and the brightest researchers and encouraging collaboration instead of competition among the entire cancer community. SU2C has hosted historic fundraising telecasts in 2008, 2010 and most recently in September of 2012, where stars like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Justin Beiber, Rihanna and many more participate by performing or answering phones.

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