A contributor in today’s Rants and Raves column makes note of the 60 Minutes program Sunday night which detailed a radical new approach to treating cancer.

A medical research team at Duke University has used a polio virus to attack brain tumors. And there has been great success.

It seems the trend to fighting many diseases is to retool the body to allow antibodies to attack and eradicate problem areas.

Those of us who are facing the uncertainties of cancer and other diseases find hope in this research — that our great medical minds are on the verge of unheard of breakthroughs. We are hoping that this is just the beginning of a great medical epiphany and this physiological scourge will soon be beaten into submission.

We’ve already seen great strides via stem cell transplants, immunotherapy and now this concept of using once-deadly viruses to attract and engage our body’s own defense system.

We recently applauded the Napster founder for putting $250 million into a project that is expected to fast track cancer research. We should all hope that other wealthy benefactors will seek to serve humankind in the same fashion.

Cancer comes in many forms. It’s deadly in all of them — some more deadly and aggressive than others. Some are so rare, little research has been done on them.

But even though we are seeing these advances that are unlike any we’ve ever seen before, that doesn’t mean we should not take every opportunity to keep our bodies healthy and in prime position to battle these ailments should they arrive.

Again let us encourage routine physicals, prostate exames, breast exams, etc. If you don’t smoke, don’t start. If you do smoke, quit. Nothing good comes from smoking. It’s neither food nor fiber. It’s only debilitating.

 Even though our agricultural heritage here in South Georgia includes this product as one on its big cash crops of the past, it’s nothing we can be proud of. It’s something that truly should be gone with the wind.