Today I am able to share with you the good news that thanks to early diagnosis, effective intervention and adherence to doctor’s orders, my own schedule of cancer treatment can be reduced in the new year. This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care in recent years. Testimony that I hope may give encouragement to the 50 percent of us who will be diagnosed with the illness at some point in our lives. Yet too often, I am told people avoid screening because they imagine it may be frightening, embarrassing or uncomfortable. If and when they do finally take up their invitation, they are glad they took part. A few moments of minor inconvenience are a small price to pay for the reassurance that comes for most people when they are either told they don’t need further tests, or for some, are given the chance to enable early detection with the life-saving intervention that can follow.