NYT Series

The New York Times is currently running a series on cancer and finding a cure, in particular on our cultural misunderstanding (or misperceptions) of cancer and the lack of a cure. Many people assume that when a patient completes chemo and radiation, the patient is cured but this is not the case. Chemo and radiation try to kill the cancer cells and stop them them from spreading. For example, while I recently completed chemo, had a mastectomy and a sentinel lymph biopsy which showed no sign of cancer in my lymph nodes, all I can do right now is wait to reach the magical 2 and 5 year goals of non-recurrence and then maybe I can breath easy. Maybe.

One of the interviewees for the article is a woman with metastatic breast cancer. While the story is not pleasant or hopeful, I thought it should be shared. Her story is of one who did everything right (non-smoking, vegetarian, exercise) and yet she still got breast cancer, and her cancer spread.

Here is the link to the article: "Advances Elusive in the Long Drive to Cure Cancer." New York Times. April 23, 2009.
As a librarian, I should have a proper citation note but I think all the pertinent information is included in my note.