If There's A Seminal Discovery In Oncology

I Began Wondering, Can One Really Write A Biography Of An Illness? But I Found Myself Thinking Of Cancer As This Character That Has Lived For 4,000 Years, And I Wanted To Know What Was Its Birth, What Is Its Mind, Its Personality, Its Psyche?

There Is A Duality In Recognising What An Incredible Disease It Is - In Terms Of Its Origin, That It Emerges Out Of A Normal Cell. It's A Reminder Of What A Wonderful Thing A Normal Cell Is. In A Very Cold, Scientific Sense, I Think A Cancer Cell Is A Kind Of Biological Marvel.

Cancer's Life Is A Recapitulation Of The Body's Life, Its Existence A Pathological Mirror Of Our Own. Susan Sontag Warned Against Overburdening An Illness With Metaphors. But This Is Not A Metaphor. Down To Their Innate Molecular Core, Cancer Cells Are Hyperactive, Survival-endowed, Scrappy, Fecund, Inventive Copies Of Ourselves.

I Think The Way We Think About Cancer, The Way We Treat Cancer, Has Dramatically Changed In The Last Century. There Is An Enormous Amount Of Options That A Physician Can Provide Today, Right Down From Curing Patients, Treating Patients Or Providing Patients With Psychic Solace Or Pain Relief.

Cell Culture Is A Little Like Gardening. You Sit And You Look At Cells, And Then You See Something And Say, 'you Know, That Doesn't Look Right'.