The Emperor of All Maladies, a biography
of cancer written by Siddhartha Mukherjee, was one of the most intriguing,
saddening, informational books I have ever read. Not only did I learn about cancer and cancer
treatments through history, but heard personal accounts of cancer from both
perspectives of doctor and patient.
There were different quotes at the beginning of each chapter, some more
general and some focused on cancer. The
most influential quote that I read from this book was “And it is solely by
risking life that freedom is obtained”, said by Hegel. I think this is an accurate representation of
the book as a whole as well as patient’s everyday lives. Without attempting chemotherapy and radiation,
both dangerous to the human body in general, the patient will not be free from
cancer, therefore almost a prisoner of the disease itself.
The
progression of cancer and how it has been treated throughout history was one of
the most interesting aspects of this book to me. I think the people throughout time who have
done something for cancer are very important.
One of the people who I believe should be talked about is Sidney Farber
(born 1903). Farber was a pathologist at
the Children’s Hospital in Boston. He
created The Jimmy Fund with help from the Variety Club and Mary Woodard
Lasker. The Jimmy Fund was one of the
first nationwide fundraising efforts to take full advantage of modern media as
he used a radio broadcast to help get the world’s attention. Farber carried out the clinical evaluation of
aminopterin and showed that remission was achievable in acute lymphoblastic
leukemia was possible. He’s often called
the “father” of modern era chemotherapy and modern pediatric pathology. Farber also discovered the uses of antibiotic
actinomycin D and radiation therapy for tumors.
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute was named after him and all he has done
for cancer fundraising and the medical aspects of cancer as well. Another important person in history was
Joseph Burchenal for his work on developing a chemotherapy for Burkitt’s
lymphoma and was a member of the presidential panel that initiated the War on
Cancer. Then there are people like
Austin Hill, Richard Doll, Ernst Wynder, and Evarts Graham who all played a big
role in the study that found that lung cancer is linked to smoking. There are many other influential people in
the history of cancer such as Rudolph Virchow, Franz Ernst Christian Neumann,
Yellapragada Subbarow, George Papanicolaou, Howard Temin, Hermann Joseph
Muller, and many more.
Without
all of these influential people, we would not be where we are today with our
knowledge on cancer, our research on cures, and our techniques of catching the
cancer early enough to save a life. We
should all be very thankful for these people and the research they have done to
affect the medical world of cancer.
I agree with your sentiments on the value of having the perspectives of the doctors and patients. I was also touched by the quote about how freedom is obtained by risking life. It's hard to imagine the delicate balance between life and death when it comes to cancer treatment, especially with chemotherapy and radiation, where you're harming the body with the longterm goal of healing it.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the quote you included encompasses cancer treatments very well as well. With intensive surgeries and giving the body strong chemicals and radiation, though chemotherapy and radiation respectively, treating cancer is a perilous battle. Cancer patients are trapped by their disease if they don't get treatment or they are trapped by the side effects of treatments. As Hegel stated, they can only attain freedom by eradicating cancer from their body. I believe that it is a struggle for cancer patients to determine whether injecting their bodies with such harmful chemicals is worth the fight or if it's better for cancer to overtake the body.
ReplyDeleteThis really brings to light the cost of cancer treatments to the overall wellbeing of a patient. My cousin had neuroblastoma when he was very young, and I remember seeing him become incredibly frail and weak as his chemo treatments continued. We should definitely put a priority on finding ways to destroy cancer without killing the rest of the patient in the process. New methods like the use of ultrasound to destroy tumors are the future of cancer research.
ReplyDeleteI have never had to experience having a loved one or anyone that is remotely close to me having cancer, so I cannot relate completely to the feelings that come with it. But I do know that if there are ways out there to make suffering from a disease or condition lesser, then we should go out there and find it. Looking back at how cancer used to be treated to how it is treated now, what has changed is not the negative effect that it is has on the individual, but more about how effectively the drug works in destroying the cancer. Finding a way to destroy cancer, while also bringing LESS harm to the patient is key in the years to come.
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