The Cancer Treatment Revolution: How Smart Drugs and Other New Therapies are Renewing Our Hope and Changing the Face of Medicine - Hardcover

Nathan, David G.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471946540 ISBN 13: 9780471946540

Publisher: Trade Paper Press, 2007

Synopsis

Praise for The Cancer Treatment Revolution

""A wonderful journey through modern medical science, told with warmth and insight, brought to life through the stories of people confronting cancer. This book will inspire and educate both laymen and caregivers.""
—Jerome Groopman, M.D., author of The Measure of Our Days and The Anatomy of Hope and Recanati, Professor, Harvard Medical School

""This is probably the best book on cancer that exists--beautifully written and unfailingly interesting, conveying a clear sense of hope for cancer patients and survivors. Cancer treatment has come a long way but not without intense struggles and passions, which David Nathan narrates from the inside as one of the leading players. He explains cancer more clearly than anyone else, and his portraits of great cancer doctors are sharp and unforgettable, a contribution to history.""
—Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone and The Demon in the Freezer

""No one is better positioned to tell the tale of the cancer treatment revolution of the last half century than David Nathan. A brilliant physician-scientist, he has been present at the cusps of history in this life-and-death field. The story he tells here is fascinating, and his book is captivating.""
—Atul Gawande, M.D., author of Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science and Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance and Assistant Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School

""David Nathan is a true storyteller. In The Cancer Treatment Revolution, he tells stories that bridge cancer patients and cancer research as few others could. These gripping tales will be appreciated by those who live with cancer and those who strive to create new therapies.""
—Thomas Cech, Ph.D., recipient of the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and President of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute

""David Nathan, one of the nation's preeminent clinician-scientists, tells the stories of three cancer patients, revealing compelling human facets--the dedication of the remarkable teams that care for these patients and, even more, the bravery and fortitude of the patients and their families.""
—Harold Varmus, M.D., recipient of the 1989 Nobel Prize in Medicine, President of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and former director of the National Institutes of Health

""Engaged by the compelling triumphs and tragedies of patients whose normal lives are inevitably altered by a life-threatening cancer, the reader of The Cancer Treatment Revolution will easily appreciate the impact of the new cancer diagnostics and therapies compared to even relatively recent cancer treatments.""
—Karen Antman, M.D., Dean, Boston University School of Medicine

""This personal, highly readable account by one of the leaders of the cancer treatment revolution explains how the revolution has come about and how it will change the future.""
—Sir Paul Nurse, Ph.D., President of Rockefeller University and recipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Medicine

About this title

From the Inside Flap

For the millions who face cancer, there is good news: today, many patients with formerly fatal diagnoses will enter complete remission and live their lives in good health. Thousands of people every year are surviving cancers that were considered fatal just a decade or two ago. Great strides are being made in the treatment of cancer using a combination of modern surgical techniques, radiation, chemotherapy treatment, and smart drugs custom-designed to block the growth of cancer cells. In this fascinating and hopeful book, world-renowned doctor and researcher Dr. David G. Nathan reveals both the scientific and human aspects of the war against cancer and explores what it means to have and to fight cancer in the 21st century.

The Cancer Treatment Revolution is both an examination of the history of cancer research and a celebration of the medical professionals, scientific researchers, and courageous patients who refuse to give up hope in the face of illness. Dr. Nathan writes movingly about Mario, a young boy who was diagnosed with a variety of leukemia that until recently was considered untreatable; six years after his diagnosis, Mario is in remission. Nathan also writes the inspiring story of Joan, a 62-year-old mother and community activist who learned she had an aggressive form of breast cancer, but who beat her diagnosis through a combination of surgery, radiation therapy, and hormone-blocking drugs. Nathan also writes about Ken, a 48-year-old man who nearly died of a stomach tumor one traumatic night but who, with the help of new smart drugs, fought back against his disease with fearlessness and optimism one day at a time. Both dramatic and highly informative, The Cancer Treatment Revolution introduces you to these and other patients, their doctors, nurses, and loved ones, and the scientists who have spent the last century working tirelessly for the solution to conquering cancer.

Today, thousands of patients are winning the fight against cancer. Doctors and other medical and scientific professionals are working side by side with patients and bringing effective treatments, many new options, and greatly improved care to more and more people every day. The Cancer Treatment Revolution has begun—and together, we can win.

About the Author

David G. Nathan, M.D., was until recently the president of the Dana-Farber Institute, one of the world's leading centers for cancer research and treatment, and the physician-in-chief of the Children's Hospital in Boston. He is a Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Edition details

• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0471946540
• ISBN 13: 9780471946540
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272