Cancer

Retired teacher Daphne Quance has incurable colo rectal cancer, and she's putting a big chunk of faith for survival on a study she has joined that uses high doses of vitamin D.

Vitamin D is naturally derived from exposure to the sun. It can also be taken as a pill. Yet many studies have shown that Canadians have less than optimal vitamin D levels, especially during the winter.

Research has suggested vitamin D may play a role in preventing cancer or extending life once diagnosed.

Two years ago, Arrica Wallace was riddled with tumors from widely spread cervical cancer that the strongest chemotherapy and radiation could not beat back. Today, the Kansas mother shows no signs of the disease, and it was her own immune system that made it go away.

The experimental approach that helped her is one of the newest frontiers in the rapidly advancing field of cancer immunotherapy, which boosts the body's natural ways of attacking tumors.

Kimm Fletcher was never one to back away from a challenge. While many terminally ill patients understandably retreat to put their lives in order and wait for the end, the Ontario wife and mother of two chose to fight publicly for a treatment that might have prolonged her life.

While making my way through Lymphomaland, I try to spend as little time as possible in the State of Blame. But sometimes I take a wrong turn, and there I am.

What did I do wrong? How did I give myself cancer? Was it years of disordered eating? Was it growing up in a high-strung, unpredictable family? Too much sugar or aspartame? Year-round barbecuing? Having children late? Inhaling the fumes in too many new cars?

AVIVA RUBIN Reports