Someone diagnosed with any type of leukemia in the early 1960s had about a 14 percent chance of being alive five years later. Today, those chances are vastly greater. 

Chronic myeloid leukemia – CML – is a relatively rare blood cancer that’s diagnosed in about 5,000 Americans every year. It used to be a dire diagnosis with a poor outlook. Not anymore, though.

One of the most deadly illnesses current and past smokers can face is squamous cell lung cancer. Until now, though, no drugs have targeted the gene mutations that cause this disease

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has plenty of detractors. It's accused of being sluggish and too cumbersome in approving new medications, especially vitally important anti-cancer medications.

A patient remembers the day he was diagnosed. Writing on a patient support group forum, he recalls, "I had one of the first oncologists I saw tell me 'you got the cancer I can treat. One pill a day and you carry on. Who's luckier than you?'"