I just saw a powerful American Cancer Society (ACS) public service announcement in a magazine. A picture of a young woman fills most of the page and this woman, shown holding a framed photograph of another young woman, looks solemn. The words that accompany the photo capture the sadness in her eyes:

My sister accidentally killed herself.

These are the words that follow:

She died of skin cancer.

Most people think skin cancer happens to other people, according the ACS. Yet it's the most common of all cancers. And left undetected, skin cancer can be fatal. It is also curable -- if caught early.

Presidential candidate John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth will appear tonight on 60 Minutes where they will publicly discuss with Katie Couric Elizabeth's newest cancer diagnosis and their decision to continue on in the presidential race.

Elizabeth, 57 and first diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2004, shared Thursday that her cancer has returned, this time in her bones. Considered stage four and treatable -- but not curable -- her cancer has generated much discussion and awareness about the workings of this life-threatening disease.

To view a clip from tonight's news program, airing at 7:00 PM ET/PT, click here.

Elizabeth Edwards has been told the metastatic cancer found in her bones is considered stage four. And it's treatable. But not curable.

Tricky stuff -- all this cancer terminology -- and a little hard to fully comprehend.

I saw Sheryl Crow talking with Maria Shriver and Dr. Susan Love on Larry's King's CNN program the other night. Crow says her breast cancer was curable -- it was teeny tiny and had not spread and required a lumpectomy and radiation, but not chemotherapy. "I'm the walking poster child for early detection," she said. Her cancer was caught and treated swiftly. She is cured. Theoretically.

Can Crow's cancer still return? Yep.

We just aren't sure at the time of one cancer discovery if these deadly cells have drifted away from the main site and will later show up elsewhere, explained Dr. Love. All predictions would have Crow living a long life free of cancer. But they may have had Edwards in the same boat just two years ago when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer.

So now Edwards' cancer is not curable. It is treatable. And this is a bit easier to understand. Her cancer will never go away. But doctors can keep it at bay. And Love says they can even make it better. But there is no cure for what Edwards has. So she will live with cancer for the rest of her life.

I guess curable means: the cancer is gone and we hope it never comes back. And treatable means: the cancer is not gone and will never be gone but we will treat it for as long as we can.

I think I get it.

Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, has had many routine medical follow-ups since her 2004 breast cancer diagnosis. And all of them -- until just a few days ago -- resulted in what is generally termed a clean bill of health.

The term doesn't always come with a sense of relief for those of us surviving breast cancer -- or any cancer for that matter -- because it only really defines what our bodies are telling us at one specific moment. There are no magic blood tests, no special body scans, no conclusive ways of determining whether or not cancerous cells have gone astray and will one day surface again.

I asked my oncologist after my first six-month follow-up how he would know if my cancer returns. He told me it's really up to me to determine whether it comes back. It's up to me to get mammograms and ultrasounds and MRIs. It's up to me to report any symptoms and suspicions. It's up to me to track my general well-being so that it will be clear when something feels not-so-right. If I have a persistent cough or headaches that won't subside, my doctor will take action with X-rays and scans and tests. But as long as I feel fine and nothing troubling presents itself, then I remain in the clean-bill-of-health club.

Edwards no longer has a clean bill of health. But she is determined to use her newest diagnosis -- stage four metastatic cancer of the bones, considered treatable but not curable -- to work toward the best health she can acquire for as long as she can hold onto it. And that is about as good as any of us can do.

Cervical cancer was once the most common cancer in women. But between 1955 and 1992, the number of cervical cancer deaths dropped by 74 percent -- thanks to increased use of the Pap test, a screening tool that can find changes in the cervix before cancer develops and can also detect cancer in its most curable stage. The Pap test is still widely used. And the cervical cancer death rate continues to drop four percent every year.

In 2006, about 9,700 new cases of invasive cervical cancer will be diagnosed in the United States. About 3,700 women will die from the disease. Non-invasive cervical cancer is believed to be four times more common than the invasive form of the disease. Nearly all of these cases can be cured.

Cervical cancer typically occurs in women between the ages of 35 and 55 and rarely in women under the age of 20. It affects mostly Hispanic women, and African-American women develop the disease 50 percent more often than non-Hispanic white women. Women most as risk for cervical cancer are smokers, those with HIV or chlamydia infections, those with diets low in fruit and vegetable consumption, those who between 1940 and 1971 took the hormonal drug DES, and those who have taken oral contraceptives for extended periods of time. Women who have had multiple pregnancies, have a family history of the disease, and have a low socio-economic status are also at risk. Those most at risk, however, are women with human papilloma virus.

Human papilloma virus (HPV) is the most common risk factor for cervical cancer, and some experts believe a woman must have HPV to contract cervical cancer. There are 100 different types of HPV, 13 of which are likely to cause cervical cancer through sexual contact. There are usually no symptoms of HPV, but possible signs of cervical cancer can include vaginal bleeding, unusual discharge, pelvic pain, and pain during sexual intercourse.

There are two ways to stop cervical cancer. First, women can protect themselves against HPV. Protection comes in the form of delaying sexual activity, limiting the amount of sexual partners and their partners, using condoms (thought to be 70 percent effective) and receiving the cervical cancer vaccine, recommended for use in females ages 11-26. The vaccine is most effective for women who have never been sexually active. Second, women can receive regular Pap tests in order to catch pre-cancers. Pap tests are recommended for women three years after their first sexual encounter and before the age of 21 -- and then every year after that.

An abnormal Pap test typically prompts a colposcopy -- a technique that uses a scope to examine the cervix. Diagnosis usually stems from a combination of other scoping methods, pelvic exams, imaging tests, and biopsies used to confirm the presence of cancer and to stage the disease. Stages range from 0-4.

For non-invasive cervical cancer, surgery -- ranging from removal of the cancerous tissue to hysterectomy -- may be the only treatment necessary. For invasive forms of the cancer, surgery is often followed by radiation and chemotherapy. Women interested in preserving their fertility should discuss options with their physicians.

The state of cervical cancer has come a long way over the years. And this year, two critical developments emerged. In June 2006, the FDA approved the first drug for late-stage cervical cancer. The drug, Hycamtin, is recommended for use in combination with chemotherapy. Also is June, the cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil, was released. Both developments are monumental -- and both will undoubtedly help decrease the already-dropping cervical cancer death rate.

For more information about cervical cancer, visit the following sites:

American Cancer Society
Mayo Clinic
Medline Plus
National Women's Health Information Center

Testicular cancer, cancer in one or both of the testicles, usually occurs in young men and will strike about 8,250 of these men this year. About 370 men will die.

A man's lifetime risk of developing this cancer -- that typically shows up in only one testicle -- is 1 in 300, securing it as one of the less common cancers in the United States. The chances of dying from testicular cancer are 1 in 5,000, making it one of the most curable forms of cancer. Yet it is still the most common form of cancer in men ages 15-34. It is also a cancer commonly characterized by denial and embarrassment. As a result, it is one of the least mentioned cancers.

It would certainly be better to identify those who are at a higher risk for developing melanoma so that they can be thoroughly screened. This is exactly what might be possible says the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

A study was done that showed if patients were given a questionnaire and a brief examination they could identify who was at a higher risk for melanoma to develop. This information can lead to these individuals getting further interventions such as a complete skin evaluation and counseling to avoid sun exposure.

The researchers stress that this is not a way to identify current melanoma cases but to identify who should have a more thorough exam. Finding melanoma early can lead to 100 percent cure. If you see anything that is about the size of a pencil eraser, is not uniform in color and does not have rounded edges you should see a Dermatologist.

Dr. Fears of the National Cancer Institute in Maryland says "Such interventions in high risk individuals may lead to detection of early, curable disease or to a decrease in their risk of developing melanoma."

I'm never quite sure about what foods I should eat and what foods I should not eat. Sometimes I hear that fish is healthy and recommended and then I hear that I should not eat fish at all due to concerns such as mercury levels. It seems that opinion on certain foods -- like fish and carbohydrates and dairy items -- sways and changes, which leaves me uncertain about how I might approach my diet in the best possible way. But opinion on red meat seems to be getting more and more consistent -- as more and more studies indicate that red meat is associated with a variety of health problems. And now red meat appears to raise the risk of developing pancreatic cancer, according to a Swedish report in the International Journal of Cancer.

More than 61,000 women were studied for possible effects of meat, fish, poultry, and egg consumption. After 17 years, 172 of these women were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and researches say it's because of the red meat. I suppose this could have been a coincidence -- and these women were destined for their diagnoses regardless of diet. But researchers conclude that long-term consumption of red meat is associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer -- one of the most deadly cancers that is seldom detected at an early, curable stage.

The good news from this study -- there does not seem to be a connection between pancreatic cancer and the consumption of fish and eggs. And the consumption of poultry may actually cut the risk of pancreatic cancer.