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Cancer is something that touches everyone's lives.

Unfortunately, cancer is the number one killer of children in this country today, and it destroys not only these innocent victims, but their families as well.

Cancer is really a DNA disease... We have these certain genes that prevent our cells from growing out of control at the expense of the body. And it's a pretty good, robust system. But if a couple of these genes fail, then that's when cancer starts, and cells start growing out of control.

Every single cancer is a genetic disease. Not necessarily inherited from your parents, but it's genetic changes which cause cancer. So as we sequence the genomes of tumours and compare those to the sequence of patients, we're getting down to the fundamental basis of each individual person's cancer.

Like millions of others, I have been plagued by the devastating effects of cancer hitting not one, but multiple members of my family.

Cancer affects so many people, and even if it hasn't affected someone in your family then you know someone who has had it.

Unlike other diseases, the vulnerability to cancer lies in ourselves. We always thought of disease as exogenous, but research into cancer has turned that idea on its head - as long as we live, grow, age, there will be cancer.

Cancer affects everyone, and it's up to all of us to support the important research that can one day make a much sought-after cure a reality.

Cancer is a collection of many diseases with common principles, and each disease will have to be understood and more effectively controlled on its own terms.