Farrah's Cancer Rare, But Often Treatable

The type of cancer Farrah Fawcett has doesn't affect many people, and is treatable most of the time IF it's caught early. If it's not, it can be deadly.

That's the picture painted on The Early Show Friday by CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton, who told co-anchor Harry Smith, "It's pretty rare. It's uncommon. There are only about just over 5,000 cases diagnosed in the country every year. And just over 700 deaths. For cancer deaths, that's a low number. For the people whose lives have been destroyed by anal cancer, that's a big number."

"It is treatable," she continued. "And obviously, with any type of cancer, the earlier it's detected, the best chance for treatment and potentially a cure. But I think, from all indicated reports, her cancer was caught at a relatively later stage."

If it's caught early, the five-year survival rate is 80 percent. But once anal cancer spreads, the survival rate is 10 percent.

There are reports Fawcett's disease has spread to her liver. "Anytime cancer spreads to liver, brain, bones, lungs, that's not a good sign," Ashton remarked.

What about reports Fawcett went to Germany for alternative treatments?

"They weren't as fringe as they were made to appear," Ashton said. "They were chemotherapy injected into tumors, from all indicated reports. And people need to understand: Every day, we're learning more and more about new ways to treat cancer, and every day, people are fighting as hard as they can to live with the disease."

Fawcett was diagnosed in 2006. Standard treatments include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. There are conflicting reports about whether she had surgery but, says Ashton, we know she had chemo and radiation. It was apparently when her cancer returned that she sought treatment in Germany.