Melissa Etheridge has urged fans struggling with cancer to learn a lesson from her battle with the disease - because it can be a "gift".The singer was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent chemotherapy in October 2004.Etheridge told the crowd at her Los Angeles concert on Friday: "Cancer's something that will stop you right in your tracks. It stops you and life is just like a wave... right over you. “All those things that seemed so important, all those things you stressed about all day long, they just disappear and you're left with yourself and your love of life."I want people to know that cancer's not the end ... (it) can be a gift. Cancer can just be a little awakening."Etheridge will join Christina Applegate, Meryl Streep, Sally Field, Jennifer Aniston and Scarlett Johansson in raising money for cancer research when she makes an appearance in the upcoming Stand Up to Cancer charity event on 5 September.

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