The dread and fear that can come with a cancer diagnosis have their roots in its killer nature: It's the No. 2 cause of death in Americans, second only to heart disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even when diagnosed early and attacked with the latest treatments, it still has the power to kill.

To help raise money to find cures and treatments for cancer patients, the "Stand Up to Cancer" telethon will air on ABC, NBC and CBS and other networks and cable stations starting at 8 p.m. ET tonight. The telethon will feature a host of celebrity guests, including George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Renee Zellweger and Will Smith.

"'Stand Up To Cancer' represents collaborative efforts" to provide funding for cancer research, Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, told MyHealthNewsDaily.

"We would not be where we are if basic and clinical science wasn't funded," Lichtenfeld said. "Basic science teaches us about mechanisms, about how drugs may be effective, and we take that info and put it into a clinic to find out whether or not those new ideas work in cancer treatment."

While there are many successful treatments today that didn't exist just a couple decades ago, a wholesale "cure for cancer" remains elusive for many reasons. There are more than 100 types of cancer, characterized by abnormal cell growth. There are many different causes, ranging from radiation to chemicals to viruses; an individual has varying degrees of control over exposure to cancer-causing agents.




1. Lung and bronchial cancer: 792,495 lives

2. Colon and rectal cancer:268,783 lives

3. Breast cancer: 206,983 lives

4. Pancreatic cancer: 162,878 lives

5. Prostate cancer: 144,926 lives

6. Leukemia: 108,740 lives

7. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma: 104,407 lives

8. Liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancer: 79,773 lives

9. Ovarian cancer: 73,638 lives

10. Esophageal cancer: 66,659 lives
