Lung cancer
Bloch was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 1978, and told he had three months to live. He refused to accept the prognosis, and sought treatment at the M.D. Anderson Center in Houston, Texas. After two years of aggressive therapy, he was in remission. By 1980, he was focusing his energies on funding cancer research, and in 1982 he sold his interest in H&R Block.Post cancer
Richard and Annette Bloch founded the Cancer Hotline in 1980 to educate newly diagnosed cancer patients, and their friends and families about available treatment resources. Later, they founded the R. A. Bloch Cancer Management Center and the R. A. Bloch Cancer Support Center at the University of Missouri–Kansas City. Ronald Reagan appointed him to a six-year term with the National Cancer Advisory Board in 1982. He was a member of the President's Circle of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Institutes of Health Office of Alternative Medicine. He also received the 1994 American Society of Clinical Oncology's Public Service Award and the 1995 Layman's Award from the Society of Surgical Oncology.Cancer returns
In the late 1980s, Bloch fought and beat colon cancer.Adapted from the Wikipedia article Richard Bloch, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
