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The Emperor of All Maladies
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The Emperor of All Maladies

› Forums › General Melanoma Community › The Emperor of All Maladies

  • Post
    • April 27, 2016 at 9:20 pm
    jennunicorn
    Participant

      Wanted to mention a great book I am reading, which is also a PBS three part series that I just finished watching on Netflix. 

      The title is The Emperor of All Maladies and it's a biography of cancer. The book is 600+ pages full of lots of history and science. The three part series which you can find on Netflix and probably other streaming devices as well is also great and takes much less time to get through. 

      My favorite part is toward the end, in the third part of the series about halfway through, they finally get to immunotherapy. It still boggles my mind how much a mystery cancer still is to scientists and how far we still have to go, but also how great it is that science has come incredibly far in a short period of time, something that probably seemed nearly impossible just thirty or forty years ago.

      Just wanted to share that with you all.

      Next on my reading list is a book that just got released yesterday, A Series of Catastrophes and Miracles: A True Story of Love, Science, and Cancer.

      http://amzn.com/1426216335 (the link to it on Amazon)

      Here's the synopsis:

      "After being diagnosed in her early 40s with metastatic melanoma—a "rapidly fatal" form of cancer—journalist and mother of two Mary Elizabeth Williams finds herself in a race against the clock. She takes a once-in-a-lifetime chance and joins a clinical trial for immunotherapy, a revolutionary drug regimen that trains the body to vanquish malignant cells. Astonishingly, her cancer disappears entirely in just a few weeks. But at the same time, her best friend embarks on a cancer journey of her own—with very different results. Williams's experiences as a patient and a medical test subject reveal with stark honesty what it takes to weather disease, the extraordinary new developments that are rewriting the rules of science—and the healing power of human connection."

      Hope everyone is having a good 'hump day' 🙂 

    Viewing 14 reply threads
    • Replies
        • April 27, 2016 at 9:47 pm
        JC
        Participant
            • April 27, 2016 at 9:52 pm
            jennunicorn
            Participant

              Thank you, great interview of the author of A Series of Catastrophes, definitely looking forward to reading it.

              • April 28, 2016 at 2:15 am
              CHD
              Participant

                Hi Jenni, Is A Series of Catastrophes alternative/New Agey, do you know? I read the Emperor of Maladies and loved it, and I do enjoy reading biographies about melanoma, but I am wary of New Age philosophies, especially those that "guilt" people into thinking their thoughts/feelings made them sick. 🙁

                • April 28, 2016 at 2:15 am
                CHD
                Participant

                  Hi Jenni, Is A Series of Catastrophes alternative/New Agey, do you know? I read the Emperor of Maladies and loved it, and I do enjoy reading biographies about melanoma, but I am wary of New Age philosophies, especially those that "guilt" people into thinking their thoughts/feelings made them sick. 🙁

                  • April 28, 2016 at 2:42 am
                  jennunicorn
                  Participant

                    I have not read a Series of Catastrophes yet, but the book is just one woman's story of what she went through fighting stage 4 melanoma while a close friend of hers fought cervical cancer at the same time. I don't think it gives any advice or anything like that, just a true story. 🙂

                    • April 28, 2016 at 2:42 am
                    jennunicorn
                    Participant

                      I have not read a Series of Catastrophes yet, but the book is just one woman's story of what she went through fighting stage 4 melanoma while a close friend of hers fought cervical cancer at the same time. I don't think it gives any advice or anything like that, just a true story. 🙂

                      • April 28, 2016 at 2:42 am
                      jennunicorn
                      Participant

                        I have not read a Series of Catastrophes yet, but the book is just one woman's story of what she went through fighting stage 4 melanoma while a close friend of hers fought cervical cancer at the same time. I don't think it gives any advice or anything like that, just a true story. 🙂

                        • May 4, 2016 at 5:51 pm
                        wasserd
                        Participant

                          Haha, you don't need to worry about New Agey-ness with Mary Elizabeth's book! It's irreverent, funny, and a hell of a great read. I devoured it in a day and a half.

                          Deborah

                          • May 4, 2016 at 5:51 pm
                          wasserd
                          Participant

                            Haha, you don't need to worry about New Agey-ness with Mary Elizabeth's book! It's irreverent, funny, and a hell of a great read. I devoured it in a day and a half.

                            Deborah

                            • May 4, 2016 at 5:51 pm
                            wasserd
                            Participant

                              Haha, you don't need to worry about New Agey-ness with Mary Elizabeth's book! It's irreverent, funny, and a hell of a great read. I devoured it in a day and a half.

                              Deborah

                              • April 28, 2016 at 2:15 am
                              CHD
                              Participant

                                Hi Jenni, Is A Series of Catastrophes alternative/New Agey, do you know? I read the Emperor of Maladies and loved it, and I do enjoy reading biographies about melanoma, but I am wary of New Age philosophies, especially those that "guilt" people into thinking their thoughts/feelings made them sick. 🙁

                                • April 27, 2016 at 9:52 pm
                                jennunicorn
                                Participant

                                  Thank you, great interview of the author of A Series of Catastrophes, definitely looking forward to reading it.

                                  • April 27, 2016 at 9:52 pm
                                  jennunicorn
                                  Participant

                                    Thank you, great interview of the author of A Series of Catastrophes, definitely looking forward to reading it.

                                  • April 27, 2016 at 9:47 pm
                                  JC
                                  Participant
                                    • April 27, 2016 at 9:47 pm
                                    JC
                                    Participant
                                      • April 27, 2016 at 10:29 pm
                                      DZnDef
                                      Participant

                                        Thanks for posting this, Jenn.  I watched the PBS series when it first aired.  Very well done.  It boggles the mind how long the drug companies were focused on just different versions of chemotherapy for cancer treatment.  Immunotherapy is a long-overdue new dawn.  Let's hope they can continue to increase those effectiveness rates for everyone.  A worthwhile series to watch.

                                        • April 27, 2016 at 10:29 pm
                                        DZnDef
                                        Participant

                                          Thanks for posting this, Jenn.  I watched the PBS series when it first aired.  Very well done.  It boggles the mind how long the drug companies were focused on just different versions of chemotherapy for cancer treatment.  Immunotherapy is a long-overdue new dawn.  Let's hope they can continue to increase those effectiveness rates for everyone.  A worthwhile series to watch.

                                          • April 27, 2016 at 10:29 pm
                                          DZnDef
                                          Participant

                                            Thanks for posting this, Jenn.  I watched the PBS series when it first aired.  Very well done.  It boggles the mind how long the drug companies were focused on just different versions of chemotherapy for cancer treatment.  Immunotherapy is a long-overdue new dawn.  Let's hope they can continue to increase those effectiveness rates for everyone.  A worthwhile series to watch.

                                            • April 28, 2016 at 2:51 pm
                                            Gene_S
                                            Participant
                                              • April 28, 2016 at 2:51 pm
                                              Gene_S
                                              Participant
                                                • April 28, 2016 at 2:51 pm
                                                Gene_S
                                                Participant
                                                  • April 28, 2016 at 3:13 pm
                                                  Gene_S
                                                  Participant

                                                    The continued and necessary focus on improving the treatment of cancer, and the dazzling science behind this, should not blind us to the potential for cancer prevention, or distract us from the scaling up of relatively simple early detection solutions that have been available for decades. As we admire the emperor’s parade of new discoveries and potential breakthrough medicines, we need to be like the clear-eyed child with the courage to point out the obvious – a cancer prevented does not need to be cured.

                                                    • April 28, 2016 at 3:13 pm
                                                    Gene_S
                                                    Participant

                                                      The continued and necessary focus on improving the treatment of cancer, and the dazzling science behind this, should not blind us to the potential for cancer prevention, or distract us from the scaling up of relatively simple early detection solutions that have been available for decades. As we admire the emperor’s parade of new discoveries and potential breakthrough medicines, we need to be like the clear-eyed child with the courage to point out the obvious – a cancer prevented does not need to be cured.

                                                      • April 28, 2016 at 3:13 pm
                                                      Gene_S
                                                      Participant

                                                        The continued and necessary focus on improving the treatment of cancer, and the dazzling science behind this, should not blind us to the potential for cancer prevention, or distract us from the scaling up of relatively simple early detection solutions that have been available for decades. As we admire the emperor’s parade of new discoveries and potential breakthrough medicines, we need to be like the clear-eyed child with the courage to point out the obvious – a cancer prevented does not need to be cured.

                                                          • April 28, 2016 at 5:01 pm
                                                          jennunicorn
                                                          Participant

                                                            The book and the series does talk about prevention and the history behind when cancer prevention began and how it clearly helped cancer rates go down. Unfortunately, they also talk about how a lot of cancers are not preventable because they do not know why they occur. If you don't know what causes a cancer, you can't prevent yourself from getting it. Not every cancer is something that can be avoided. I could never have avoided getting melanoma, it was not sun exposure related, all the shade and sunscreen in the world would not have stopped my body from eventually turning on itself. As science and research continues, hopefully we will find out more ways to prevent other cancers, but, like I said, sometimes there is just nothing any of us can do, it's just a part of the way our life is suppose to go. That's why focusing on advanced and better treatments is just as important as focusing prevention.

                                                            • April 28, 2016 at 5:01 pm
                                                            jennunicorn
                                                            Participant

                                                              The book and the series does talk about prevention and the history behind when cancer prevention began and how it clearly helped cancer rates go down. Unfortunately, they also talk about how a lot of cancers are not preventable because they do not know why they occur. If you don't know what causes a cancer, you can't prevent yourself from getting it. Not every cancer is something that can be avoided. I could never have avoided getting melanoma, it was not sun exposure related, all the shade and sunscreen in the world would not have stopped my body from eventually turning on itself. As science and research continues, hopefully we will find out more ways to prevent other cancers, but, like I said, sometimes there is just nothing any of us can do, it's just a part of the way our life is suppose to go. That's why focusing on advanced and better treatments is just as important as focusing prevention.

                                                              • April 28, 2016 at 6:09 pm
                                                              DZnDef
                                                              Participant

                                                                There is a reason (more likely several reasons) each one of us developed cancer.  The reasons may be different for each of us (sun exposure, genetics, epigenetics, etc.).  Unless we know our own particular reasons we can't know for sure if it was preventable or not.  Even if the reason is genetic, that wouldn't explain why others with the same genetic anomoly do not develop the same cancer.   Unless the genetic anomoly resulted in a 100% cancer rate, the cause would have to be genetic plus something else.  

                                                                In the absence of understanding the reasons/causes, it is understandable that the focus is on treatment rather than prevention. Hopefully, there will be attention paid to learning the causes so we can then determine if there are preventative steps that can be taken.  Which does not help those of us already afflicted, but may help others from suffering the same fate.

                                                                • April 28, 2016 at 6:09 pm
                                                                DZnDef
                                                                Participant

                                                                  There is a reason (more likely several reasons) each one of us developed cancer.  The reasons may be different for each of us (sun exposure, genetics, epigenetics, etc.).  Unless we know our own particular reasons we can't know for sure if it was preventable or not.  Even if the reason is genetic, that wouldn't explain why others with the same genetic anomoly do not develop the same cancer.   Unless the genetic anomoly resulted in a 100% cancer rate, the cause would have to be genetic plus something else.  

                                                                  In the absence of understanding the reasons/causes, it is understandable that the focus is on treatment rather than prevention. Hopefully, there will be attention paid to learning the causes so we can then determine if there are preventative steps that can be taken.  Which does not help those of us already afflicted, but may help others from suffering the same fate.

                                                                  • April 28, 2016 at 6:09 pm
                                                                  DZnDef
                                                                  Participant

                                                                    There is a reason (more likely several reasons) each one of us developed cancer.  The reasons may be different for each of us (sun exposure, genetics, epigenetics, etc.).  Unless we know our own particular reasons we can't know for sure if it was preventable or not.  Even if the reason is genetic, that wouldn't explain why others with the same genetic anomoly do not develop the same cancer.   Unless the genetic anomoly resulted in a 100% cancer rate, the cause would have to be genetic plus something else.  

                                                                    In the absence of understanding the reasons/causes, it is understandable that the focus is on treatment rather than prevention. Hopefully, there will be attention paid to learning the causes so we can then determine if there are preventative steps that can be taken.  Which does not help those of us already afflicted, but may help others from suffering the same fate.

                                                                    • April 28, 2016 at 7:11 pm
                                                                    jennunicorn
                                                                    Participant

                                                                      Well said Maggie 🙂

                                                                      • April 28, 2016 at 7:11 pm
                                                                      jennunicorn
                                                                      Participant

                                                                        Well said Maggie 🙂

                                                                        • April 28, 2016 at 7:11 pm
                                                                        jennunicorn
                                                                        Participant

                                                                          Well said Maggie 🙂

                                                                          • April 28, 2016 at 5:01 pm
                                                                          jennunicorn
                                                                          Participant

                                                                            The book and the series does talk about prevention and the history behind when cancer prevention began and how it clearly helped cancer rates go down. Unfortunately, they also talk about how a lot of cancers are not preventable because they do not know why they occur. If you don't know what causes a cancer, you can't prevent yourself from getting it. Not every cancer is something that can be avoided. I could never have avoided getting melanoma, it was not sun exposure related, all the shade and sunscreen in the world would not have stopped my body from eventually turning on itself. As science and research continues, hopefully we will find out more ways to prevent other cancers, but, like I said, sometimes there is just nothing any of us can do, it's just a part of the way our life is suppose to go. That's why focusing on advanced and better treatments is just as important as focusing prevention.

                                                                          • April 28, 2016 at 6:13 pm
                                                                          vickiaa0529
                                                                          Participant

                                                                            Thanks so much

                                                                            I am layed up recovering from a groin dissection 

                                                                            I'm out of stuff to read 

                                                                             

                                                                              • April 28, 2016 at 7:10 pm
                                                                              jennunicorn
                                                                              Participant

                                                                                I know the feeling, hopefully these books could be something good help to pass the time 🙂

                                                                                • April 28, 2016 at 7:10 pm
                                                                                jennunicorn
                                                                                Participant

                                                                                  I know the feeling, hopefully these books could be something good help to pass the time 🙂

                                                                                  • April 28, 2016 at 7:10 pm
                                                                                  jennunicorn
                                                                                  Participant

                                                                                    I know the feeling, hopefully these books could be something good help to pass the time 🙂

                                                                                  • April 28, 2016 at 6:13 pm
                                                                                  vickiaa0529
                                                                                  Participant

                                                                                    Thanks so much

                                                                                    I am layed up recovering from a groin dissection 

                                                                                    I'm out of stuff to read 

                                                                                     

                                                                                    • April 28, 2016 at 6:13 pm
                                                                                    vickiaa0529
                                                                                    Participant

                                                                                      Thanks so much

                                                                                      I am layed up recovering from a groin dissection 

                                                                                      I'm out of stuff to read 

                                                                                       

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