The number of cancer survivors has increased 20% in only six years. Finally, cancer is cured! According to numbers released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute, there were 9.1 million survivors in 2001. By 2007, the number of survivors had risen to 11.7 million. Impressive, as 40 years ago there were only three million.

Experts attribute the rise to improvements in treatment and screening availability. Heightened awareness has also contributed to people are getting diagnosed early enough to catch it. Also, um, more cancer may mean more cancer survivors, so that kinda sucks.

But we're celebrating today. Cancer isn't as much of a death sentence as it used to be. One in 20 adult Americans has survived cancer, which aren't the worst odds. Does this mean we can all go chain-smoke, talk on our cell phones, eat bacon wrapped donuts, and courageously live under power lines now?

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