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After Fifty Years on the Front Lines of Medicine, a Pioneering Oncologist Reveals Why the War on Cancer Is Winnable--and How We Can Get There
by Vincent T. DeVita
The true story of the war on cancer from one of its generals.
In The Death of Cancer, Dr. Vincent T. DeVita Jr. - former director of the National Cancer Institute, former physician-in-chief at Memorial Sloan Kettering, director of the Yale Cancer Center, former president of the American Cancer Society, and developer of the first successful chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma, which first demonstrated that advanced cancers of a major organ system in adults could be cured by chemotherapy - provides a personal history of one of the greatest science stories of our time, covering our fight against cancer from a man who's seen it all.
But this is more than a history; it's also a work of advocacy. Despite declining mortality rates, DeVita argues, America's cancer patients are being shortchanged by timid doctors, misguided national agendas, and compromised bureaucracies. He gives readers an eye-opening look at the strengths and weaknesses of America's most prestigious cancer centers, showing how patients can use this information to their advantage. Though we're rapidly approaching total victory over cancer, he contends, we need to do more to synthesize our progress and help doctors put it into practice.
This is an ambitious book about a life-or-death subject, a vital entry into the cancer literature genre. With historical depth and authenticity, DeVita brings important information to readers about what cancer is, how best to fight it, and what we still have to learn.
"Starred Review. This remarkable memoir doesn't just urge the public to have hope: it showcases the exciting evidence that we may finally be winning the war on cancer." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. One of the most absorbing and empowering science histories to hit the shelves in recent years." - Kirkus
"Starred Review. Highly recommended for all readers interested in cancer or medical research. Those seeking a more comprehensive and a less intimate chronicle should check out Siddhartha Mukherjee's The Emperor of All Maladies." - Library Journal
This information about The Death of Cancer was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Vincent T. DeVita Jr., M.D., is a professor of medicine and epidemiology and public health at Yale School of Medicine. He was the director of the National Cancer Institute and the National Cancer Program from 1980 to 1988. In 1988 he joined Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as the physician-in-chief. In 1993 he became the director of the Yale Cancer Center. At the NCI, he developed a cure for Hodgkin's lymphoma with combination chemotherapy, proving that advanced cancers could be cured by drugs. He's a former president of the American Cancer Society and the coeditor of Cancer: Principles & Practice of Oncology, a textbook of cancer medicine.
Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn is the author of The Empty Room. She lives in New York City with her husband, the writer Paul Raeburn, and two sons.
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