I think Michael Landon, Patrick Swayse and Randy Pausch put their faces on deadly pancreatic cancer, thus putting it on the map. Pausch even appealed to Congress for research funds just weeks before his death in 2008.
And Katie Couric pioneered a successful public information campaign directed to prevention of all colorectal cancers.
Cancer research for cures (and long remissions) is a slow process while many people die waiting. There’s nothing anyone can do about that except to catch it early enough. This is often easier said than done :=(
