The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
Book by Siddhartha Mukherjee
DETAILS
ASIN : 1439107955 Publisher : Scribner; 1st edition (November 16, 2010) Language : English Hardcover : 592 pages ISBN-10 : 9781439107959 ISBN-13 : 978-1439107959 Reading age : 1 year and up Lexile measure : 1240L , The Emperor of All Maladies is a magnificent, profoundly humane “biography” of cancer—from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles in the twentieth century to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence. Physician, researcher, and award-winning science writer, Siddhartha Mukherjee examines cancer with a cellular biologist’s precision, a historian’s perspective, and a biographer’s passion. The result is an astonishingly lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with—and perished from—for more than five thousand years. The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience, and perseverance, but also of hubris, paternalism, and misperception. Mukherjee recounts centuries of discoveries, setbacks, victories, and deaths, told through the eyes of his predecessors and peers, training their wits against an infinitely resourceful adversary that, just three decades ago, was thought to be easily vanquished in an all-out “war against cancer.” The book reads like a literary thriller with cancer as the protagonist. From the Persian Queen Atossa, whose Greek slave cut off her malignant breast, to the nineteenth-century recipients of primitive radiation and chemotherapy to Mukherjee’s own leukemia patient, Carla, The Emperor of All Maladies is about the people who have soldiered through fiercely demanding regimens in order to survive—and to increase our understanding of this iconic disease. Riveting, urgent, and surprising, The Emperor of All Maladies provides a fascinating glimpse into the future of cancer treatments. It is an illuminating book that provides hope and clarity to those seeking to demystify cancer. Read more
REVIEW
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee "The Emperor of All Maladies" is a literary achievement of science. It's an enlightening journey through the history of cancer through the eyes of a coming-of-age oncologist. A beautifully written book that treats this complex topic of cancer with the utmost care and respect while providing the reader valuable insights into the scientific quest to eradicate or control this insidious disease. This outstanding 608-page book is broken out into six major parts: 1. "Of blacke cholor, without boyling", 2. An Impatient War, 3. "Will you turn me out if I can't get better?", 4. Prevention is the Cure, 5. "A Distorted Version of our Normal Selves", and 6. The Fruits of Long Endeavors. Positives: 1. Outstanding accomplishment of literary science. Extensive research of cancer and conveyed to the masses in an enlightening readable fashion. Kudos! 2. Engaging and humane prose. 3. What sets this book apart is the author's ability to interweave human stories into the biography of cancer thus achieving a perfect balance of humanity and science. 4. Great facts and fascinating scientific tidbits about cancer throughout this book. 5. Cancer...what it is, and the never ending scientific quest to eradicate or control it. 6. Cancer has many manifestations. This book covers many of them through the eyes of the patients, scientists and doctors. Leukemia and breast cancer, do get special attention. 7. Innate ability of Dr. Mukherjee to provide details with panache. 8. The history of the drugs developed to combat the many manifestations of cancer. The history of the agencies, and support groups. The scientists behind the design, development and deployment of the drugs. 9. Great quotes, "Cancer thus exploits the fundamental logic of evolution unlike any other illness. If we, as a species, are the ultimate product of Darwinian selection, then so, too, is this incredible disease that lurks inside us". 10. A look into the history of ancient diseases. The progression (not always in a straight line either) of science as it relates to treating diseases. The key discoveries that were instrumental to progress, anesthesia as an example. The discovery of radium in 1902. 11. The history of organizations launched to fund research. Special mention to the tireless efforts of Mary Woodard Lasker and Sidney Farber. 12. Conducting clinical research. The trials and tribulations. The various treatments and effects. A lot of focus on chemotherapy. The multidrug concoctions. The reality of the results. The tamoxifen trial. 13. The causes of cancer. The various theories. As an example a look into the somatic mutation hypothesis of cancer. 14. The quest to understand the biological behavior of cancer before going on an all out attack. Fascinating stuff. 15. The quest to prevent diseases. Many examples of historical cases: the "chimney-sweepers' cancer, tobacco, malaria, to name a few. Find out the extreme experiment that put one scientist's own life at risk. 16. The history behind screening trials. Pap smears, mammography, the findings, and the lessons learned. 17. The insidious disease...AIDS. Retroviruses. 18. The link between chromosomal changes and cancer. The causes. 19. Proto-oncogenes. "Cancer was intrinsically loaded in our genome, awaiting activation". The first cogent and comprehensive theory of carcinogenesis. 20. Understanding the progression of cancer. "Down to their innate molecular core, cancer cells are hyperactive, survival-endowed, scrappy, fecund, inventive copies of ourselves." 21. The six rules that explain core behavior of more than a hundred types of tumors. 22. The three new Achilles' heels of cancer. The three essential ingredients for a targeted therapy for cancer. 23. The current biological and societal challenges of cancer. The pathway disease. 24. Excellent links to notes. 25. The inclusion of a glossary and bibliography. Negatives: 1. At over 600 pages, it does require an investment in time. Thankfully, it's time well invested. 2. Lack of charts and illustrations would have added value. Could have been added to appendices to avoid disrupting elegant prose. 3. It can be an emotional read sometimes as the reader will find themselves invested in the lives of so many people...let's face it, we are talking about dealing with cancer. 4. Some readers will get lost among the many and recurring storylines. 5. The photographs would have added more value if they would have been inserted in the context of the narrative instead of a separate appendix. In summary, this is an outstanding and important book. What sets this book apart is Dr. Mukherjee's ability to weave multiple storylines into a fascinating narrative about the history of cancer with just the right touch of humanity. This was an ambitious book and I can only imagine how daunting a quest this was but the author succeeds and as a result we the readers benefit from the knowledge and wisdom. I can't recommend it enough! Further suggestions: " The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks " by Rebecca Skloot, " The Secret History of the War on Cancer " by Devra Davis, " One Renegade Cell: How Cancer Begins (Science Masters Series) " by Robert A. Weinberg, " Cancer as a Metabolic Disease: On the Origin, Management, and Prevention of Cancer The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code " by Sam Kean, and " Cancer Ward " by Alexander Isayevich Solzhenitsyn.
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