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Local sports: Misericordia removes interim tag off Willie Chandler

Letter to the Editor: Lackawanna County Commissioner Jerry Notarianni told to ‘stop playing bad politics’

If Vice President Joe Biden&#8217;s &#8220;moon shot&#8221; to cure cancer succeeds, count on Pennsylvania supplying the life-saving mission with a boost.Biden, who was tabbed last month to lead the Obama administration&#8217;s effort against the nation&#8217;s No. 2 killer, made this state his first stop in the renewed push to unlock cancer&#8217;s secrets and speed new treatments past bureaucratic roadblocks. He visited a University of Pennsylvania cancer center in Philadelphia because, an aide said, of &#8220;the cutting edge immunotherapy work done there.&#8221;It remains to be seen if and how Biden can increase data-sharing between researchers in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and other U.S. cities on the cutting edge of this work; however, new details emerged Monday regarding the scope of the project. In President Barack Obama&#8217;s final budget proposal on Feb. 9, he is expected to ask Congress for $755 million to dedicate to the cancer-fighting cause, The Associated Press reported.The total cost of this gambit, when combined with last year&#8217;s congressional allocation, adds up to about $1 billion.Whether area residents consider that money well spent probably depends on how their lives, or their family members, have been impacted by cancer. Northeastern Pennsylvania&#8217;s statistical rates for people acquiring and dying of certain cancers, including lung and colorectal, exceed state and national averages. We have witnessed cancer&#8217;s cruelty across our region. We have coped with loss and suffered.Likewise, we have seen new and encouraging medical responses in the region, including a focus by The Commonwealth Medical College on colon cancer studies and the emergence in Forty Fort of Geisinger&#8217;s genomics center.Biden, a Scranton native, could bring new vigor, if not federal or private grants, to these sorts of projects simply by virtue of the bully pulpit from which he intends to champion more &#8211; and more coordinated &#8211; cancer research.Regardless of any scientific strides, the buzz generated from the vice president&#8217;s activities also should serve to remind people, yet again, of their personal responsibility when it comes to good health.&#8220;Approximately one-third of cases of the most common cancers in the U.S. could be prevented by eating healthy, being active and staying lean,&#8221; according to the <a href="http://www.aicr.org/" target="_blank">American Institute for Cancer Research</a>. Each day during February, billed as <a href="http://www.aicr.org/cancer-prevention-month/" target="_blank">Cancer Prevention Month</a>, its Facebook page will offer a healthy lifestyle tip.Similarly, the Mayo Clinic emphasizes its &#8220;<a href="http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/cancer-prevention/art-20044816" target="_blank">7 tips to reduce your (cancer) risk</a>,&#8221; starting with &#8220;Don&#8217;t use tobacco&#8221; and &#8220;Eat a healthy diet.&#8221;Not all of us can be involved in the new frontiers of medical research striving to put an end to cancer; but each of us, based on our behavior, can likely play a role in creating a healthier tomorrow.

Our Opinion: Cancer fight likely to intensify; are you doing your part?