Linette Atwood
CEO/Publisher

From the moment I began my cancer journey, I knew my best chance for a cure was researching all my options in advance of choosing my initial treatment protocol. Like many newly diagnosed cancer patients, perhaps including you, I began my research on the Internet.

I was trying to find a state-of-the-art cancer facility that specialized in my particular type of cancer. But when I typed cancer into my search engine, it yielded 235-million Web pages. Even narrowing my search to the term cancer facilities produced 14-million Web pages.

That's when I realized that while information is power, too much information is overpowering. I had just been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. I needed accurate, up-to-date information to make critical treatment choices. I knew the information was out there on the Internet, but finding it among thousands of out-dated links, pop-up ads and obscure blog entries was frustrating and unproductive. I needed a portal, a way in. How much easier my journey would have been with a copy of Patient Resource Cancer Guide. Information is indeed power, and the Cancer Guide is your portal to empowerment.

On behalf of the 500,000 cancer patients and caregivers across the U.S. who will receive the 2009 Patient Resource Cancer Guide, I want to thank our many industry partners and advertisers without whose help and support the Cancer Guide would not be possible.

To listen to my podcast for the American Society of Clinical Oncology, click Here.

Charles M. Balch, MD
Editor-in-Chief

Over the years, I have grown in my commitment to help patients become better informed and educated about their cancer. I truly believe that an informed and educated cancer patient will be empowered to get the best cancer care and live better and longer. Being the Editor-in-Chief of Patient Resource Cancer Guide fulfills my passion to help cancer patients — and their family and friends — have access to understandable information about this complex disease. With proper knowledge, you and your loved ones can better cope with your disease. Armed with that knowledge, you can be a better partner in the decision-making and treatment planning process, especially from the perspective of how your decisions about treatment influence your quality of life. With that knowledge, you can balance hope with the reality of your cancer.

This is the third year of publication for the Patient Resource Cancer Guide. It is the only print publication that provides a free listing of cancer treatment facilities and cancer-specific patient support groups with their contact information. Linette Atwood and I initiated the Patient Resource Cancer Guide because we both saw the need for a print publication for cancer patients that could be provided FREE as a resource for cancer information and reliable Web sites that offer more in-depth information.

Joining us in this endeavor are an outstanding and distinguished group of medical writers, a Medical Advisory Board and a Patient Advisory Board who have all contributed significantly to the contents of Patient Resource Cancer Guide. Distribution of this publication includes collaboration with a number of organizations, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the Komen Foundation, the Lance Armstrong Foundation and others. A number of the articles have been published from ASCO materials (see www.Cancer.net) and we are grateful for the partnership.