DEAR ABBY by Abigail Van Buren

DEAR ABBY: A close relative has been diagnosed with incurable cancer. Friends are now sending me articles and clippings about cancer research and the promise of new therapies. If they had actually READ these articles, they would see that clinical trials on humans are far off, or that the type of cancer referred to in the article is different from what my relative has. Why offer hope when there is none? The same thing happened to me when I had cancer 20 years ago. In one instance, I received an article about how to prevent the cancer I already had!

Please remind your readers that although these items are most often sent with love, they do little to help the individual experiencing the illness and treatment and can cause anger and pain. Doctors, especially on

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