Oh my gosh, I'm sorry I never saw your page last week about school! I actually have a Master's in Forensic Molecular Biology, which is a lot more DNA extraction and analysis....I am too old to go back for a PhD at this point, and cancer research doesn't require one--at this point experience and networking will do me more good than more school. I'm actually job hunting in sequencing and R&D stuff right now, which may or may not be cancer research related.
I would say, if you plan to go into academia or straight research, a PhD would benefit you--but it's a lot of time invested without income. And then there's a post-Doc and all that stuff before you can actually make money. If you want to do industry, commercial jobs (which are generally still research based but for-profit companies) than a Master's will definitely suffice.
If you have other specific questions about the jobs or programs you're looking at, I'd be more than willing to help--in a more timely manner this time, I promise!!
ETA: And I'm so sorry about your mom!! Truly, I can't imagine how horrible that must be. I will say, the work I do day-to-day is completely non-clinical (we're not dealing with patients at all) so you may find you're able to separate from the emotional aspect of it. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of work to be done in the field.

Re: ErikandAfton**
Thank you so much for the info! My BFF was trying to talk me into a PhD but given where we are in our life right now I don't think a PhD is the route for me. I think I'm going to do a bit more research about a masters and then sit down and talk to my husband and see if its really what I want to do. Thank you so much!