Meet a 25-Year Cancer Survivor:
Health Story

Aired on Lifetime Television
Sunday, January 20 and March 9, 2008
Show 503

It's the cancer no one likes to talk about, but colorectal cancer will take close to 55,000 lives this year. Yet, it's very treatable – just ask Kate Murphy. She was just treated for her third bout of colon cancer and has lived with the disease for 25 years.  "I think one of the one most important things that hasn't changed in 25 years is how frightening that diagnosis is going to be to somebody," says Kate. But with better screening, surgery, chemo and prevention, there are many good stories from patients with colorectal cancer. While traditional surgery is still the most common treatment, new technologies like laparoscopic surgery are minimally invasive and just as effective with faster recovery. Another new technique is the virtual colonoscopy, which takes less time and doesn't require anesthesia. On the horizon is a screening test that will be able to detect proteins in the stool that could foretell cancer. New drugs have pushed survival rates for colorectal cancer patients over the 50% mark.  As Kate notes, "I've been here for 25 years and I'm doing fine."