Is cancer a character test?

I have this letter in smh today.  I'd add that going through the treatment might test your character, but whether you live or die is due to the cancer, not to moral strength.

 Cancer not character test

I join in hoping that Anna Bligh survives her cancer, just as I hope I survive my leukaemia (''Anna Bligh diagnosed with cancer'', June 8-9). I am, however, troubled by the assumption of many well-wishers that ''beating'' cancer is a matter of character.
Whether a person survives cancer is based on how advanced the cancer is, complicating factors and the effectiveness of the treatment. Many good and ''strong'' people die of cancer through no fault of their own. Cancer is a disease, not a test of character.