National Mammography Day is an important reminder that early breast and cervical cancer detection saves lives.

For the first time, breast cancer patients and their families also have the security of knowing they no longer have to worry about whether they will be able to get the care they need. Why? Because this Breast Cancer Awareness Month coincides with the opening of state health insurance marketplaces created by the health care law.

Today is the start of ACS CAN's signature annual event: our Leadership Summit and Lobby Day. We'll be welcoming more than 600 cancer patients, advocates, survivors, caregivers and their families from all 50 states and nearly every congressional district to Washington, D.C.

Dr. Laura Witherspoon is an American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network volunteer from Tennessee. Below is her account of her participation in the One Voice Against Cancer lobby day on July 9.

Actress Angelina Jolie published an op-ed in the New York Times today that has caught the eye of the cancer community nationwide.

On Thursday, Maryland became the first state to enact legislation that will help improve access to palliative care for people with serious illnesses and their families. ItŠ—'s a victory worth celebrating!

When Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), inquired about contributing a patient story to a hearing to discuss the progress being made on implementation of insurance market reforms under the ACA, we knew Stacy's story was one the committee needed to hear.

Undoubtedly you saw the countdowns on your local news stations Š—– sequestration took effect on Friday. Sequestration is what Washington is calling the $85 billion in across-the-board budget cuts to domestic and defense discretionary spending agreed upon in the 2011 Budget Control Act. While a lot remains unknown about how the cuts will affect us, we know one thing is for sure: funding for cancer research and prevention programs is taking a dangerous hit.

To illustrate just how crucial federal funding is for cancer research, ACS CAN released a new report this week, Š—“Catalyst for Cures: How Federally Funded Cancer Research Saves Lives.Š— This report underscores the threat posed by sequestration to future progress in the fight to end death and suffering from cancer by highlighting federally-funded scientists who have discovered new ways to treat specific cancers, including breast cancer, melanoma and lung cancer and the patients who benefited from those advances.

A key government report released last month speaks to the importance of ACS CANŠ—'s work on nutrition. The report, issued by the Federal Trade Commission, looked at how much money the food and beverage industry spends on marketing its products to children and teens.