Celebrities dying of cancer

http://www.ralphehanson.com/2016/01/22/what-kind-of-cancer-was-it-and-why-do-we-care/

Interesting blog about celebrities dying of cancer and whether we should care what type of cancer caused them to perish.

When I first found I had uLMS, I was pretty pissed at the "popular" cancers. You know the type, pink products, fund-raising and teams of people showing support by walking several days in a row. There was also the annoyance that I had a rare, aggressive cancer that no one had heard of. So, this is serious. No, really, it is serious.

Why does it matter what killed our heroes? Do we want to focus research and funding on a specific cancer because (for example) David Bowie died of it? Do we want a lifestyle to blame? It was liver cancer, he did a lot of drugs, it makes sense. Furthermore, since I don't do drugs, I'll be safe. Substitute Lungs and smoking, anal cancer and sexual practices... anything to make us feel safe.

There are a lot of types of cancer. This is just one. There's a lot of research going on. I'm grateful that someone is doing sarcoma research, and specifically LMS research. But I understand the push to cure the popular cancers. Save the boobs. So many women get breast cancer... so few get uLMS. There's also the advantages of building on other research. First we find the genetic markers, then tailor the treatment.

However, with fewer patients, and many oncologists, the sarcoma community is at a disadvantage. Okay, we've got our own color(s) Teal for gynecological cancers and Purple for LMS.

I can appreciate a celebrity wanting a bit of privacy. We've benefited from their talent, their life, their rumors. But now they should be allowed to have their own privacy within their body. Does it matter what killed them? No. I'm grateful that we've had their music (it seems mostly musicians have died this first few weeks of January, 2016). We don't need to nitpick at their death.