Author Archives: asbecker

About asbecker

is Director of Media Relations. He is the New York-based member of the national media relations team. His work includes all patient and fami

Bald Barbie Demand is an Over-Reach – UPDATED

Posted on January 13, 2012

I want to sincerely apologize for the pain my post, which I have now removed, has caused. Like many other committed staff members and volunteers at the American Cancer Society, I have lost loved ones to cancer, and I work here … Continue reading →

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Writing New Chapters in the Cancer Survivorship Story

Posted on January 3, 2012

It is said that there are only seven types of scripts in Hollywood. I believe the same is true in the cancer universe, though the number may be even smaller. Each individual’s story is inspiring or sad or reassuring, or … Continue reading →

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Modestly Higher Cancer Rates Among 9/11 Firefighters, But Too Soon To Establish Causation

Posted on September 1, 2011

As we approach the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, a new study published earlier today in The Lancet reviews cancer incidence and its potential association with exposure in firefighters in the first seven years after the attacks of 9/11 … Continue reading →

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Unintentional Cruelties

Posted on August 17, 2011

Jody Schoger is a breast cancer survivor, an activist, and a blogger I admire. She blogs at Women With Cancer. This week she wrote about what she termed, “the grey line that connects newly emerging cancer celebrities to the Oprah and … Continue reading →

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Noncommunicable Diseases: Glass Half Full?

Posted on April 27, 2011

Hundreds of influential and accomplished people from around the world are gathering overseas as I type, and not for the British royal wedding. They are convening in Moscow for the First Global Health Ministerial Meeting on Healthy Lifestyles and Noncommunicable … Continue reading →

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Is Your Cancer Your Fault?

Posted on July 13, 2010

My father, Kenneth Becker, died less than three weeks ago after battling lung cancer for more than four years. He had recently turned 67. Before you ask, he was never a smoker. But the fact that most people did ask is … Continue reading →

Posted in Lung, Research | 4 Comments

Non-Communicable Diseases: 60 Percent of Deaths, One Percent of Funding

Posted on May 13, 2010

In public health interventions, as with other kinds of interventions, recognizing that a problem exists is the first step toward successfully solving it.  Today, the United Nations seems poised to take the major step of recognizing that non-communicable diseases – … Continue reading →

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