LOS ANGELES, April 14 (Xinhua) -- More American cancer sufferers continue working thanks to medical advances, supportive laws and greater workplace acceptance, it was reported Saturday.

    Some victims keep their careers healthy almost immediately after major surgery, according to the Los Angeles Times.

    "Although some stay on the job to qualify for company-provided health insurance, many do it for the emotional support and mental respite from their diseases," said the paper. "And cancer's stigmais fading for patients and co-workers."

    About 40 percent of the more than 1 million Americans diagnosed with some form of cancer each year are working-age adults, according to the American Cancer Society.

    The vast majority return to work after treatment, often within a year, said Tenbroeck Smith, who directs research on survivorship at the Cancer Society's Behavioral Research Center in Atlanta.

    Millions of people with early-stage or localized tumors, such as some forms of breast or prostate cancer, have long been able to return to their jobs in the wake of their treatment.

    Such "metastatic" cancers were once tantamount to an immediate death sentence. Now, it is becoming a chronic but treatable condition for many patients, akin to heart disease or AIDS, said the paper.

    New drugs have blunted debilitating effects of chemotherapy that kept patients bed bound during treatment or left them with lasting disabilities. Targeted therapies have improved survival rates, the paper noted.