يوميات السرطان: حل أعمق أسرار الطب

by George Johnson, إيهاب عبد الرحيم علي (translator)

ما الذي يدفع بعض الخلايا لتصبح سرطانية وتنموا لتشكل ورما خبيثا؟ لفترة طويلة اعتبر الباحثون ان الجواب يكمن في الطريقة التي تتعرض بها الجينات الرئيسية للتلف , او التي تصاب بطفرة مع مرور الوقت . غير انه خلال السنوات الاخيرة ,اكتش الباحثون عدة عوامل مشاركة اخرى-بدأ من البكتيريا التي تعيش في الامعاء الى مفاتيح تحويل فوقجينية تعطي اشارة البدأ او التوقف لجينات متنوعة. وقد ادى كشف هذه القضية المتزايدة التعقيد الى جعل فهم السرطان أصعب من اي وقت مضى,غير انه ايضا فتح طرقا غير متوقعة لاستكشاف مجالات لتطوير معالجات جديدة .

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Medicine, Medical, Health, Biology, History

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

George Johnson (born January 20, 1952) is an American journalist and science writer. He is the author of a number of books, including The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments (2008) and Strange Beauty: Murray Gell-Mann and the Revolution in 20th-Century Physics (1999), and writes for a number of publications, including The New York Times.

He is one of the co-hosts (with science writer John Horgan) of "Science Saturday", a weekly discussion on the website Bloggingheads.tv, related to topics in science. Several prominent scientists, philosophers, and bloggers have been interviewed for the site.

Reviews

[K. Lincoln · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am now a month out from finishing surgery/chemo/radiation for invasive ductal carcinoma of the right breast. I am reading a bunch of memoirs and more scientific books (best one before this so far is Emperor of Maladies) trying to get a scientific and historical perspective on a disease that has affected me so very invasively and personally.

That's what the author, George Johnson, did, too in this book. He is a science writer, and uniquely situated with academic background, contacts, and assignments to research into cancer when his wife of the the time is diagnosed.

He starts the book with dinosaur bones showing evidence of osteocarcinoma, goes on to survey some of the various parts of science that are deeply digging into the chemical, genetic and biological mechanisms by which various cancers operate, dabbles a bit in how some of the chemotherapy drugs were developed, and finishes up with a survey of some of the suspected causes.

Along the way, Johnson allows us personal glimpses of his wife's and brother's battles with cancer. Enough to personalize the journey in a meaningful way without getting too much into the nitty gritty of treatments. (Unlike Emperor of Maladies which is mega-focused on treatment). This book is more a kind of broad intro to what scientists are studying; how genes are turned on an off, how mutations occur, the mechanisms of overexpression, delving into "protein maps" of people whose tumors react to chemotherapy to compare the proteins their RNA creates with others of people whose tumors don't, etc.

The explanations are understandable for laymen like me (lit major) but still deep enough that they made me have to focus and reread certain passages to understand.

From my own perspective, the parts of this book that stood out for me are his acknowledgement of how people seem to resist evidence in the face of cancer diagnosis, looking desperately to blame something somewhere for what is (as far as we know) most likely a series of random events and reactions. When talking about how his wife's diagnosis made his mind link to a neighbors' subsequent diagnosis and death, he writes "All of us acquire our own personal cancer clusters, and a mental file of anecdotal evidence as unreliable as it is impossible not to deep down believe."

Until I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I had no idea how prevalent it was, nor did I spend so much time trying to find categories to put survivors in-- dwelling on similarities for good prognosis and desperately snatching at differences for those with bad prognosis.

The other part that surprised me, is the discussion of the SEER and the European EPIC studies that have to do with the correlation or relation of veggies/fruits with cancer. While SEER definitely promoted this kind of diet, Johnson relates how a prominent scientiest involved with EPIC notes there isn't really anything in nutrition that stands out, when looking at populations.

Johnson and the scientist seem to think that the biggest factor for women's breast cancer, if not other cancers, seems to be obesity and lack of exercise. This made me groan, for sure. It's so much easier to include blueberries, kale, and broccoli sprouts in one's diet than to deal with the overall lifestyle choices one must make to stay a normal BMI. While I won't stop eating blueberries and broccoli sprouts, the evidence is convincing.

He also touches glancingly on the topic of how "pink" and breast cancer fundraising efforts have in some ways co opted the perception of cancer as something we just need to "stand up and fight" by celebrities and pink-wear.

I wish this book had ended on a more positive note (one of his later conclusions is that the "ecthroi always win in the end" referencing the Madeline L'Engle fantastical forces of entropy and chaos that tried to destroy the mitochondria in the protagonist of her novel Wind in the Door)but the truth is that medicine at this point still doesn't understand why/how different cancers work or indeed why/how different treatments succeed for fail.

Truth resists simplicity. If you are looking for a way to understand the complex truth of cancer in humans, this is a good book for you. If you're looking for an uplifting message of hope, you may want to steer clear.

[إيمان · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب جيد جدا يقدم معلومات هامة لغير المختصين و شخصيا أجابني عن الأسئلة التالية:
- ما هو السرطان تحديدا و كيف يبدأ؟
-لماذا يعود السرطان و في أماكن أخرى بعيدة عن العضو المصاب أول مرة؟
- ما العلاقة بين فقدان المناعة لدى المصابين و المرض في حد ذاته؟
-ما هو العلاج الكيميائي و ما سر الأضرار التي يسببها و ما العلاج الإشعاعي؟

معلومات صدمتني في الكتاب:
-لا توجد أي أدلة قطعية بين السرطان و نمط الحياة المعاصر
-السرطان قديم قدم الديناصورات كما تدل الأحافير!!!

ما بين وفرة المعلومات يشاركنا الكاتب تجربة زوجته السابقة مع إحدى سرطانات الرحم -عافى الله الجميع- و تجربة أخيه هو الآخر ( لكن في الفصل الأخير فقط). لفت انتباهي امتعاض الكاتب من حملات الدعم التي تلطف الموضوع و ان كانت عن غير قصد (أكتب هذا و نحن في ما يعرف بالشهر الوردي!)...كما لا يمكن أن لا أثني على تفانيه في البحث و الكتابة و في طريقة الكتابة نفسها و تسلسل الأفكار...أما الترجمة فبلا شك كانت احترافية بما يكفي لتقديم هذا العدد في صورة محترمة جدا جدا...

ختاما لا أنكر أن الكتاب سلط الضوء على الصراع المرير الذي يخوضه آلاف المحاربين و المحاربات الباسلين و الباسلات، بطريقة لن يفصح عنها المرضى، و إن تعددت الأسباب، لكنه جعلني أيضا أشعر بجرعة من الكآبة و القلق تجاه تلك المعركة الطاحنة و الصراع اليائس من أجل الحياة.

الحمد لله على نعمة الصحة و عافانا الله جميعا من شرور هذا المرض و شفى الله المرضى.

03/10/2020

[Yomna Suwaydan · Rating 4 out of 5]

بداخل جسدي، توجد عشرة تريليونات خلية (عفاريت ماكسويل الصغيرة هذه) تقاتل الانهيار نفسه الذي لا مفر منه تجاه الإنتروبيا. من الغريب أن نفكر في أنه بداخل كل منها تحدث كثير من الأشياء - والتي لا تدركها العين. لا تعلم الخلية بامتلاكها للـDNA، أو الـRNA، أو التيلوميرات أو المتقدرات؛ ولا تعرف أن الأدينوزين A يرتبط بالتيروزين T، أو أن السيتوزين C يرتبط بالغوانين G. أو أن CTG ترمز إلى الحمض الأميني ليوسين leucine، أو أن GCT ترمز إلى الألانين alanine - وهي الخرزات الجزيئية التي تنتظم معًا لصنع البروتينات. ليست هناك بطاقات تعريف، ولا أبجدية جينية مكتوبة في أي مكان، كما لا توجد تعليمات. يقوم كل شيء بمهمته بطريقة ما، وعندما لا يفعل ذلك نستشيط غضبًا ضد الآلة.

بدأت رحلتي مع الكتاب بعد مناقشة حول السرطان الفتّاك وأنواعه المتعددة، وعندما لم تكن المحادثات الكتابية كافية لفهم الأمر كفاية، قرر مُحادثي أن يقترح أن نقرأ الكتاب سويًّا، وقد كان.
ما قد يلفت النظر منذ البداية أن جورج جونسون لم يكتب من قبل سوى في مجال الكوزمولوجيا (علم الكونيات)، وبعدما أصيبت زوجته بالسرطان (الورم الحليمي البشري)، وقضى أخوه نحبه نتيجة تتابع انتشار الأورام المخيفة على جسده، قرر جونسون أن يكرس نفسه لدراسة دقيقة لمدة وصلت إلى سنتين أو طالت عن ذلك.
قد لا يُسعف محض رأي بالحديث عن الكتاب بما يكفي، وربما الحل الأمثل هو تلخيص ما أردت أن أكتب ...

لقد بدأ مرض السرطان في الانتشار منذ العصر الجوراسي، حسنًا، منذ زمن يسبقه، هادفًا للفتك بالمخلوقات التي يصيبها - لحظها التعس - كافه، وإنه لماكرٌ لدرجة تجعل خلايا الجسم وجهازه المناعي على أهبة الاستعداد فالتنفيذ للعمل ضد الجسم الذي بقترض بها أن تحميه.
تتوالى الدراسات حول السرطان بأنواعه، وتعقد المؤتمرات السنوية، وتتشكل المنظمات، دون جدوى غالبًا. مع ذلك، فإن الأمر أعقد من أن يتم شرحه هنا.

لا داعي للقول بأنه كتاب رائع. فإن كنت ذا عقلية علمية أو تهتم بالعلوم فقم بقرائته.

[Mal Warwick · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story already told better

If you’re looking for an introduction to the painful subject of cancer — its history, its origins, and the efforts of science to combat it — I suggest you read the authoritative and compelling book, The Emperor of All Maladies, by the oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee. The Cancer Chronicles treats the same subject in a similar way but with far less success. George Johnson’s unrestrained use of medical and scientific jargon left me reeling, page after page, and I suspect that any other nonscientist will have a similar experience.

Undoubtedly, Johnson’s book — published in 2013, two years after The Emperor of All Maladies — includes information about numerous advances in cancer research and treatment that wasn’t available in 2011. Research in the field is accelerating that quickly! But Johnson shrouds his story with so many polysyllabic descriptors that I finished the book and couldn’t remember a single outstanding new development. There’s something to be said for the English language, unsullied by specialists’ cant. I wish technical writers would learn the lesson.

George Johnson is an accomplished science writer whose credits include extensive work on television as well as writing for The New York Times. I would hope that his other work is better than what’s on offer in The Cancer Chronicles.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is the equivalent of talking to your teenage son (minus the technical jargon):

So, Junior, how was school today? I don’t know.

Do you have any homework? I don’t know.

The author seemed almost curmudgeonly gleeful that cancer’s causes are mostly unknown and scornful of the fundraising efforts for cancer research. And I have absolutely no idea where the subtitle came from (Unlocking Medicine’s Deepest Mystery) as nothing could be further from the truth. No medical mysteries are unlocked. If anything, the author takes great pains to cast doubt on just about anything involving cancer (other than smoking being a contributor to cancer) - High radon levels may actually be beneficial! In your face! It’s like the scene in Sleeper, without the humor, where Woody Allen wakes up 200 years in the future and learns that smoking, red meat and deep fats are good for you.

This is a subject matter that interests me and yet I struggled to get through the dry, overly technical medical jargon. The parts I understood weren’t much better either.

Read The Emperor of All Maladies (by Siddartha Mukherjee) instead and skip this one.

[Deirdre · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the easiest books on cancer for me to read. I found it informative and in certain ways comforting. The concept that there's more cancer these days because we're not dying from other diseases and that there are dinosaur skeletons with signs of cancer.

I was a cancer patient, I was lucky, I responded in a textbook fashion to chemotherapy regime I was put on. My lottery ticked may have been stamped by the glandular fever I had earlier in my life (apparently all patients who have Hodgkins Lymphoma had glandular fever but not all people who get glandular fever get Hodgkins), by the genetics that link geeks in our family with cancer (stomach - grandfather; liver - uncle) or the environmental issues with having worked late shifts and living for a few years in a bustling city centre. Whatever happened I had cancer, some books make me very stressed but this book reasured me that there are people working on this and trying to find solutions to ensure that future generations won't suffer from this.

Through the science he also weaves the story of his wife's cancer. Her treatment and the aftermath and the afterword including his brother's cancer. It's touching in parts and you can see his path to try to understand this while his wife is going through all the trauma of treatment and testing and heartbreak. You can see how he's trying to understand this and trying, in the face of a situation where he has no power or agency over this thing that's happening.

I found it a compelling read and would recommend it to almost everyone.

[Rahma.Mrk · Rating 2 out of 5]

غريب أنني لما أغلقت الكتاب منذ دقائق ،جملة واحدة تردد صدها في عقلي وسمعتها أذني،:لا ،ليس الحمد الله على نعمة الصحة ونعم الله التي لا تُحصى ،تلك كنت أرددها أثناء القراءة،أما الجملة التي قلتها لما ختمت الكتاب هي ،بيت من قصيدة قارئة الفنجان،وبصوت عبد الحليم ايضا،وستكتشف بعد مضي العمر أنك كنتَ تُطارد خيط دخان،علاش هذا الييت بالذات،لانك بعد أكثر من شهر من القراءة والتقصي لكل الاسباب في محاولة منه لفهم وحل هذا المرض الذي أصاب زوجته .تكتشف انه كان يطارد خيط دخان،فكل ما قيل عن نظام الحمية،الاشعاع،الرياضة كل ذلك لا تعدو كونها نسبْ واحتمالات تتضافر الدراسات في دحض وتأكيد تأثيرها مع في هذا المجال من اموال دعائية طائلة.كنت أقرا في هذا الكتاب وكتاب beineg mortal بالتوازي .ومعهم دورة.أيمن عبدالرحيم
الخاصة يعلم النفس. لو تقولون لي علاش هذه التفاصيل. سأجيب ببساطة لانني شعرت ان كلها تلتقي في نقطة واحدة الموت واحد ولو تعددت أسباب .عش بصفاء نفسي واستحضر نعم الله علينا وان هناك أشياء تقع بلا حتى سبب يكفي أن الله لحكمة بالغة أراد ان تقع .عسى أن ننتبه ونستفيد .

ربنا يرزقنا وإياكم الصحة والعافية ويبارك في اسماعنا وابصرنا .

12/1/22
9 جمادى الاخر

[Torytory · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a refreshing detour from the ubiquitous "let's cure cancer" mindset. It explores different theories about how and why we get cancer and why it might just be inevitable and impossible to cure. While this may sound rather negative and hopeless, I actually found it to be a relief. Those of us who have had cancer can spend way too much time agonizing over what we did wrong and why we were afflicted and I felt that this book gave me permission to take a break from that mentality.
it's also a very interesting look at cancer on a cellular level, written for the most part in layman's terms.

[Eslam]

انا للأسف عندي "Carcinophobia" ومقدرتش أكمله عشان بالنسبالي فيلم رعب وتعبلي أعصابي جداا

[MAI AYMAN · Rating 2 out of 5]

الكتاب رائع وفيه معلومات قيمة جدا بس ولا هو يوميات سرطان ولا هو قصة طليقة المؤلف مع السرطان
هو دراسات كتير اجراها المؤلف + قصة اصابة زوجته واخوه + معلومات كتيير ف مجالات تانية بتفاصيل مملة
تخصص الكاتب اساسا هو الكتابة ف المجال العلمي واترشح مرتين لنهائى جائزة الجمعية الملكية لافضل كتاب عن العلوم وفاز يجائزة الجمعية الامريكية لتقدم العلوم للصحافة العلمية . فبالتالى توقع كتاب دسم جداااا

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

From prehistoric times to current developments, Johnson surveys the phenomenon of cancer, all along blending personal anecdote with cutting-edge research. He started his journey into cancer when his wife, Nancy, was diagnosed with a rare uterine variety. He took it as an opportunity not just for personal soul-searching (why her? why now?), but also for a wide-ranging odyssey into research about what causes cancer and how long it has been with us.

Ultimately, Siddhartha Mukherjee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Emperor of All Maladies is the more comprehensive and optimistic study of cancer, but Johnson’s is shorter and highly readable. I can see how others would be put off by both the weighty scientific subject and the pessimistic tone. However, I encourage reluctant readers to give this one a try. You will learn more than you might expect, and explode many myths along the way.

(See my full review at The Bookbag.)

[Jose Moa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written when motivated by a personal tragedy the author makes a brief biography of cancer fron tumors in the bones of dinosaurs 150 million years ago to to day and explains the last theories and treatments in chemoterapy,the last drugs, and radioterapy.

He explains as the mutations of certain genes, the oncogenes, that control the reproduction of the cell, forces it to a runaway reproduction following through darvinian selection thousands of evolutionary paths, and learning to force the cooperation of the cells of immunitary system and adquiring skills to induce angiogenesis (formation of the blood vessels tat feed the tumor) ,methastase and to become resistent to chemoterapy drugs and radioteraphy including in its skills metabolic changes ,as to change from a aerobic metabolism to a anaerobic metabolism in the center of the tumor.But also considers other explanations as estranded stem cells or the mithocondrial theory or as the molecules involved in the disease are quantum systems ,in the quantum realm,some researches think that quantum mechanics could be involved in some way.He also tells that in early detection of little metastases the best non invasive tool is the PET(positron emission tomography),whether radioctive glucose is injected in the blood and as the tumor metabolic rate is high the glucose acumulates in tumors,by beta decay the positrons emited annihilate with electrons of neirbourg atoms producing gamma ray flashes that when detected give a cristal clear tridimensional picture of the tumors in the body

Also explains that in some way the cancer growth have somethings in comon wit the process of the embriogenesis ,as is clear in certain class of tumors named teratomas.
As the working of the cell is controlled by the genome ,and being the genome stored information in the ADN molecule , he develops the idea that the cancer can be considered as a information disease.
Being the cell a extremely complex molecular nanomachine whose whole knowledge will be a very long hard task the autor makes clear that the final solution of the cancer problem could not be near in time.

The book makes a revision of the late investigations over the factor risks in geting cancer,being the major risks the tobacco smoking,the excesive comsum of red meat,viruses infections as in papiloma or hepatitis virus,the obessity,the long exposition to carcinogens as asbesto,tar or to radiactive sources as Radon gas or X rays.In the case of breast cancer a factor risk if too many menstrual cicles as consecuence of a premature menarquie or by not being pregnant,also exposition to too much estrogen hormone.The studies are no so clear or inconclusive with regard to other risks as chemical polutants, for example the plastic or food aditives or use of cell phones.

A good easy to read popular book about cancer ,full of information on the last results of investigation ,chemoterapy drugs,experimenltal treatments and with a lot of references.

[Mustafa Soliman · Rating 3 out of 5]

لا يهتم السرطان بما إن كنت ذكيا أم لا ولا يهتم ان كنت جميلا ومتعلما أم لا
ولا يتهم ان كنت ذا مكانة في المجتمع ام لا
هل الفكرة ان السرطان مكتسب ام تنتجه الخلايا هل تناول الفواكه والخضروات تقينا من الإصابة بالسرطان هل التدخين والمسكرات تسرع الإصابة به
ليس هناك دراسات واثقة من ذلك
يجب التعامل مع السركان انه عملية وليس شيء ان الخلية تتسرطن وليست تصاب بالسرطان
شفانا الله والجميع ورزقنا الصحة والعافية

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

George Johnson is a science writer,and when his wife gets a rare form of cancer, he begins his investigation into the history of cancer and the complexity of the disease.

Lots of very understandable science in this book and very interesting reading. Johnson immerses himself in the study of cancer. He reads books and cutting edge articles, not just about the type of cancer his wife has, but a wide range of cancers. He attends conventions of scientists and interviews researchers.

He shares his wife's diagnosis, surgery, and treatment details. He also talks about his brother's death from cancer.

What really comes across in this book is the reason that cancer is still with us. It is a highly complex group of diseases. Johnson describes the life of a cell and how the lymph system works in the body.

Very interest reading. Also quite scary in some respects. But also inspiring to learn how many scientists and doctors are hard at work expanding our knowledge of the diagnosis and treatment of cancer but also the ways in which our body works.

[Happyreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Radiation may not be as deadly as we thought and no single food or food category will definitively cut your cancer risk. Try not to smoke, be fat and/or sedentary, age, or have diabetes – and still, it’s kind of a crap shoot who gets cancer or why. Then again, this book is less about what causes or prevents cancer but more an exploration of the complexity of cancer and the frustrations of diagnosing and treating cancer in its many shapes and forms. We are such complex organisms with so many constantly evolving parts and interrelationships that both protect us and make us vulnerable. If nothing else, it’s a reminder that none of us, regardless of how healthy or unhealthy we think we live, should feel smug and protected or live in constant fear. It’s like death itself. None of us know how, when or why we may die; none of us know if or when our cells will go rogue and cancerous and if we’ll survive the shock to the system.

[Mr Shahabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

واحد من افضل الكتب التي كتبت عن مرض السرطان و تاريخه

تجربة مو غريبة علي، فا من الطبيعي انه يحوز الكتاب على الاهتمام و التعاطف مع المحاربون الذين يدخلون الحرب مع عدو خفي من غير سابق انذار

تحية لهم على شجاعتهم.

[Book Shark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Cancer Chronicles: Unlocking Medicine's Deepest Mystery by George Johnson

“The Cancer Chronicles” is a quest to learn where we stand against cancer. Science writer and journalist George Johnson is driven by his wife’s rabid cancer to find out as much about the disease and the people who fight to combat it. This illuminating 306-page book includes the following thirteen chapters: 1. Jurassic Cancer, 2. Nancy’s Story, 3. The Consolations of Anthropology, 4. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 5. Information Sickness, 6. “How Heart Cells Embrace Their Fate”, 7. Where Cancer Really Comes From, 8. “Adriamycin and Posole for Christmas Eve”, 9. Deeper into the Cancer Cell, 10. The Metabolic Mess, 11. Gambling with Radiation, 12. The Immortal Demon, and 13. Beware the Echthroi.

Positives:
1. Johnson is an experienced science writer.
2. Interesting topic, the quest to find out as much as possible about cancer and the people committed to fight it.
3. Facts spruced throughout the book. “Animals in captivity tend to get more cancer than those in the wild, maybe because they are exposed to more pesticides or food additives, or maybe just because they survive longer, get less exercise, and eat more. Of all the risk factors associated with human cancer two that are seldom disputed are obesity and old age.”
4. The reality of cancer. “Mammals appear to get more cancer than reptiles or fish, which in turn get more cancer than amphibians. Domesticated animals seem to get more cancer than their cousins in the wild. And people get the most cancer of all.” “Cancer is a phenomenon in which a cell begins dividing out of control and accumulating genetic damage.”
5. The book revolves around Nancy’s (his wife) cancer story. “A few days later I was upstairs in my office when the doctor called her to break the news. “Extensive metastatic adenocarcinoma, moderately differentiated.” Adenocarcinomas are carcinomas of epithelial tissues that contain microscopic glands. They can arise in the colon, lung, prostate, pancreas, almost anywhere.”
6. The earliest signs of cancer. “But in his book Diseases in Antiquity, a standard reference on ancient pathology, Don Brothwell concluded that Kanam man’s abnormality was too thick and extensive to be from an infection. Like Leakey’s colleagues, he leaned toward a diagnosis of bone cancer.”
7. Mutations. “The more frequently cells are dividing, the more likely mutations will occur. The right combination will lead to a malignancy. Osteosarcoma is so rare that one would have to comb through the bones of tens of thousands of people to find a single example. Yet ancient cases continue to turn up.”
8. Describes the progression of the understanding of cancer over time. “It was only in the nineteenth century that doctors had come to understand cancer as a disease involving abnormal cells. Hippocrates referred to “metastatic affections” traveling through the body.”
9. Trying to understand the mystery. “Cells are so particular about where they live that science still struggles to understand metastasis. How do the malignant cells decide where to go, and what counts for them as hospitable soil?”
10. Understanding the development of cancer. “In a very creepy way, an embryo is so much like a tumor that the early days of pregnancy resemble the incursion of a malignant growth. Once an egg is fertilized, it travels down the fallopian tube, dividing and dividing along the way. After several days it has become a ball of dozens of identical cells, which proceed to gather themselves into two regions. The outer layer will become the placenta, while the inner cell mass will give rise to the fetus.”
11. Discusses the quest to find out where cancer comes from. “In 1973, not long after Richard Nixon declared the War on Cancer, the government Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program, called SEER, began collecting data from state cancer registries on incidence and mortality—how frequently people got cancer and how often it killed them.”
12. Does a very good job of debunking statistical illusions. Probably the biggest positive of this book. “Throughout all of this, neighborhood cancer clusters, like the ones I’d read about in Los Alamos and on Long Island and saw fictionalized in Erin Brockovich, continue to be reported. But in almost every instance they turn out to be statistical illusions, more examples of the Texas sharpshooter effect.”
13. The complexity of cancer. “But Hispanics, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Pacific Islanders get significantly less cancer than blacks or whites. There are so many variables involved.”
14. Deep dives into the cancer cell. “Of the approximately 25,000 genes in the human genome, at least 350 have been identified as possible cancer genes—ones that can be altered in a way that confers a competitive advantage.”
15. Describes many different types of cancer. “For metastatic breast cancer, Herceptin can add a few months to a woman’s life. Used in the early stages of the illness, the drug’s effects are more striking. When standard chemotherapy was accompanied by Herceptin, 85 percent of women were found free of the cancer after four years.”
16. Primary forces of cancer. “Riboli said. At first it seemed that an excess of fatty foods was the reason. But further research suggested that it was not so much the fat or other ingredients that were to blame but the total intake of calories—that obesity itself was a primary force in cancer.”
17. Radon, the silent killer. “Radon, like carbon monoxide, is an invisible, odorless, silent killer—albeit one that works slowly as mutations mount year by year. Of the approximately 160,000 lung cancer deaths each year in the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency has said that 21,000, or 13.4 percent, may be radon related.”
18. Treatments. “Whatever the method, the rationale is the same as with chemotherapy: Rapidly dividing cancer cells will succumb more quickly to the poison than healthy cells, and they will be less able to repair themselves.”
19. The cell phone fear. “The cell phone fears seemed like a prime example, a case of metastatic memes—hard, impenetrable kernels of folk science passed from mind to mind with little deliberation.” “A review by the World Health Organization of approximately 25,000 papers uncovered no convincing evidence that microwaves cause cancer. This is reflected in the epidemiology. For the last twenty years, while cell phone use has steadily increased, the annual age-adjusted incidence of malignant brain tumors has remained extremely low—6.1 cases per 100,000 people, or 0.006 percent—and for the last decade has been slightly but steadily decreasing.”
20. An epilogue that discusses his brother’s caner.

Negatives:
1. I did not enjoy this book as much as I expected to.
2. The book is a bit disorganized. Jumps around too much for my taste.
3. No visual supplementary material. No charts, graphs, diagrams…
4. No formal bibliography.
5. Perhaps unfair but I kept comparing this book to the gem that was Emperor of all Maladies.

In summary, I have to admit I was a little disappointed in this book. Johnson is certainly a gifted author but I felt this book was a little disorganized and didn’t meet my expectations. There is a part of me that is perhaps comparing this book to the masterpiece that was The Emperor of All Maladies and as a result this book suffers as consequence. That said, there is enough here to chew on. Johnson is driven by his wife’s cancer and is a quest to learn as much about the disease as possible. Mild recommendation.

Further recommendations: “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer” by Siddhartha Mukherjee, “Being Mortal” by Atul Gawande, “Cancer as a Metabolic Disease” by Thomas Seyfried, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Locks” by Rebecca Skloot, “Cancer What You Need to Know” by Stephen Rosenberg, and “Radium Girls” by Kate Moore.

[Mohammad Al Refaei · Rating 3 out of 5]

السرطان قد يكون العدو الأكبر والأقوى الذي واجه أي طبيب منذ أن بدأ الإنسان بممارسة الطب (سواءً التوليد أو الشعوذة) وصلولاً إلى اليوم؛ ولذلك، وكوني طالب طب، أحب أن أقرأ عن السرطان -حتى لو كان الكتاب ليس بالتخصصي وإنما موجهاً لعامة القراء-.

بدايةً يأخذنا الكتاب في رحلة تاريخية، فيحدثنا عن أوائل الكائنات التي نعرف أنها أصيبت بالسرطان وهي الديناصورات، وهذه نقطةٌ تحسب للكتاب لأنني لم أقرأها قبلاً، فضلاً عن أصل الخلايا السرطانية التطوري. ويعرفنا الكاتب على أوائل محاولات البشر لتفسير السرطان انطلاقاً من سقراط ووصولاً إلى اليوم الراهن.
وفي خضم ذلك بنتقل بنا الكاتب براشقةٍ من موضوعٍ إلى آخر، من سبب السرطان إلى علاجه وتشخيصه وما إلى هنالك؛ لكن، ورغم هذه الرشاقة، إلا أنه وبالنظر للموضوع بنظرةٍ شاملة، فالكاتب لم يوفِ جوانب المرض حقها، فانتقاله العشوائي بين علاج المرض وسببه وتصنيفاته أزال الملل عن الموضوع لكنه قلل الفائدة بشكلٍ واضح.

أسلوب الكاتب الرشيق والبعيد عن الملل تضمّن نقطة ضعفٍ أخرى -وإن كانت أقل أهميةً من سابقتها- وهي إقحام قصة زوجته المصابة بالمرض، لكنه مع ذلك بقي ضمن المقبول.

عناوين الفصول في الكتاب كانت مميزة لكنها لم تكن بهذا الترابط مع المحتوى، وبالنظر إلى عنوان الكتاب ككل، فالكاتب لم يقدم رؤية جديدة عن السرطان لا نشأةً ولا علاجاً، وهذا لا يتناسب مع عنوان كتابه "حل أعمق أسرار الطب".

الكاتب غير مختص في مجال السرطان وهذا قد يعني أنه غير قادر على الإلمام به بشكل جيد، لكنني أحتسب له جهده الكبير الذي عوضه عن عدم تخصصه في هذا المجال؛ وفي نفس الوقت، فكونه غير متخصص سيجعله أقرب إلى أذهان القراء العاديين وقد نجح في ذلك -إلا في بعض المواضع-.

نقطة أخيرة أعجبتني: هي واقعية الكاتب عندما يتحدث عن بعض علاجات السرطان أو الأنظمة الغذائية المتبعة للوقاية منه (والتي رغم فائدتها إلا أنها ليست بالحجم التي تُصور به) فضلاً عن رأيه بمسألة "القضاء على السرطان" فالقضاء على السرطان في الوقت الراهن لا تبدو بهذه الواقعية، وهو ما أشاطره به.

باختصار: الكتاب غير ممل، لكنه غير منظم الأفكار، ومع ذلك مناسب للقارئ غير المتخصص، لكنه لم يأتي بشيء جديد؛ الترجمة جيدة.
أنصح به للمهتمين من المختصين وغيرهم بالسرطان، وأنصح بكتاب: السرطان، مقدمة قصيرة جداً
Cancer, very short introduction
وهو كتاب مترجم.

[Jason Fella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having had cancer myself when I was 21, I've been devouring every bit of info on health, nutrition, and cancer since then. This book certainly tackles things fairly comprehensively and brings up issues and viewpoints I never thought of, or heard. He talks about why many previous studies were flawed or nearly useless, and how new studies will remedy those errors.

Ironically, the chapter on metabolism and cancer was the one I was looking forward to the most, but turned out to be the most disappointing. He does mention Gary Taubes' excellent book "Good Calories, Bad Calories" and some of the statistics he uncovered involving hunter-gatherer societies and their low-carb diets allowing those cultures to live without many western diseases. He says it makes sense, but then doesn't go into ANY examination or review of any studies, statistics, etc. He only says that, at this point, fat-storage, diabetes, and insulin levels are one of the few significant dietary factors we have to go on.

He also makes a very strange comment about free radicals. He says people would never want to completely get rid of free radicals, because they are actually a good thing. He says they are the bodies garbage collector and keep toxins from building up. It sounds like he's describing anti-oxidants, not free radicals. I have never, in my years of reading about this subject, ever heard anyone say free radicals were in any way positive.

Still, this book has some surprising revelations and I can almost guarantee you will be thinking differently about cancer when you're finished

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Johnson is such a good science writer. He covered a lot of territory in this book - the inevitable comparison is to Mukherjee's Emperor of All Maladies but the two writers didn't have the same objectives (one a "biography" and the other a wide-ranging survey). In my review of Mukherjee I took issue with his reliance on the war/battle metaphor - and Johnson is clearly uncomfortable with that metaphor. Without relying on that war drumbeat Johnson explores the varied approaches to cancer (how we think about it, how we treat it, how we try to avoid it, epidemiological issues, and cutting-edge research). He doesn't attempt to be comprehensive - more open-ended, and it's not a long book (though the notes are substantive). Also a personal journey through cancer treatment with his wife (bit of a surprise at the end of the book there - and I'm not talking about life/death).

[Lara Santoro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another great book by a great writer -- a "poet", as The New York Times just called him, despite his resolute focus on science. What is cancer? How far back does it go? What do we actually know about it? Which assumptions are starting to look old and tired? In the hands of a lesser writer, the subject might either scare or tire, but Johnson's ability to simplify the most hermetic truths and entertain us as he does so, is a gift from start to finish.

[Am Y · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read, but ultimately one which didn't provide any answers for someone like me who's trying to save my Stage 3B cancer-stricken husband. In fact this book was quite depressing (you'll learn why in the epilogue). But I did learn a lot about cancer in general from this book, including some surprising (to me at least) tidbits:

1) Cancer is at least as old as the dinosaurs. Evidence of osteosarcomas were found in dino fossil bones, and one particular group of dinosaur species seemed particularly susceptible to a certain kind of cancer.

2) Cancer can actually be transmitted from one living organism to another. See: https://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...
The author mentions Katherine Belov, who is interviewed in the article I've linked to above. She is the researcher who discovered that cancer cells can actually migrate from one animal to another in Tasmanian devils (google "devil facial tumour disease"), when they bite each other's faces. Usually the immune system would be able to rid of foreign (i.e. non-self) cells, but some cancers have actually mutated such that they are able to switch off the immune system's response to it, or cloak themselves from being annihilated, apparently not just in their original owner's body, but in the new host body as well!

3) A variety of different cancers were found in humans from as early as the prehistoric era. These were evident from fossil records and cave paintings. Scientists were even able to determine in some cases where the cancer origin site was (e.g. a 48-year-old mummified male whose bones showed signs of osteoblastoma was determined to have suffered from prostate cancer which had spread to his bones).

4) There are many different "subtypes" of cancers. As in, not all cancers - even though they might be the same "type" of cancer - are the same. E.g. The author's wife had a rare form of uterine cancer that had a much worse prognosis compared to the more common form of uterine cancer. And this form of uterine cancer she had also metastasised differently (i.e. spread via different pathways in the body).

So, while this book will probably not provide you with any answers you might seek about cancer (in fact quite the opposite - it will raise more questions than you started with), it's still worth a read for the wealth of interesting research the author has uncovered and presents within.

[Abdallah Moh · Rating 1 out of 5]

الكاتب وزوجته كانوا من المهتمين بالوقاية من السرطان ، فكانوا يتخذون الاجراءات والعادات الحياتية اللازمة لتجنب الاصابة به ، حتى انهم احضروا مختصين لفحص التربة والهواء في منزلهم للتاكد من نسبة المواد المسببة للسرطان الموجودة .

ولكن ماحدث أن زوجته أصيبت بالسرطان وتوفيت به .
مما دفعه للبحث في مسببات السرطان الغذائية والمعيشية والكيميائية والتلوثية والديموغرافية وغيرها . وكذلك التقصي عن بدايات السرطان وتاريخه .

الكاتب ليس طبيب او متخصص علمي طبي . هو أقرب مايكون الى محرر علمي .

لم أفهم شيئا من الكتاب . العشرات من اسماء المعاهد والبحوث والاشخاص والحيوانات والنباتات ،
مما يجعل القارئ كأنه في دوامة ومتاهة . حاولت أن أضع يدي على معلومة مفيدة واضحة لم أستطع

[Mohamed Gamal · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب جيد و يشكل تجربة بحث غير متخصصة و لكن تستحق التوقف عندها ، رؤية تاريخية للسرطان مع تجربة شحصية للكاتب مع تساؤلات حول نظريات حدوث السرطان ، كتاب جيد

[Rossdavidh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different eras have different bogeymen. We live in an era that scoffs at werewolves, ghosts, and the Devil. But you know what we don't scoff at? Cancer. Previous times were scarcely aware of its existence, but it looms large over the modern First World. I notice that a lot of people say the word "cancer" in a soft voice, even if they are the sort to let loose with profanity with gusto. We don't especially like talking about it, hearing about it, or thinking about it. Or, one might suppose, reading about it.

But then, we also have a fascination, so just as earlier eras produced stories about werewolves, ghosts, and the Devil, we have our occasional author brave enough to write about their experiences dealing with cancer (in either themselves or those near to them), and hoping that some of the rest of us will want to read about it.

George Johnson has been a science writer for some time, but we discover early in the book that he was launched onto this particular topic by his wife being diagnosed with cancer. It hangs over the rest of the book, as his phrasing is ambiguous enough to leave us wondering if she is a survivor or not. Not just a masterly bit of storytelling tension, it also gives us a pale shadow of the experience of having a loved one with cancer. Chapter after chapter goes by, and we read about the history of medicine, including a dinosaur fossil that shows evidence of cancer, x-rays of Egyptian mummies, how this (type of) disease came to share the same word as the ancient Greek word for a crab, and eventually going into the modern era we start to look at what is known about what cancer really is. It's interesting enough in itself, but because Johnson tells of his researches in a first-person, chronological style, we also get the occasional hint at how things turn out with his wife, but never clearly enough to be sure. The result is that a grim foreboding hangs over the reader, sometimes receding, sometimes coming back to the fore.

This would make for exhausting reading, if not for two things. One, Johnson is good at what he does. Two, we have actually learned a great deal about cancer in the last few decades. Not enough to cure it as often as we would like, but enough to see in it a metaphor for so many things in the rest of our life. Cancer is, in essence, when individual cells no longer work towards the good of the entire body, and instead suck as many resources out of the rest as they can, while contributing nothing but an ever increasing number of copies of themselves. It doesn't take much to imagine cancers in our government or our economy.

After a little while thinking about what cancer really is, one starts to wonder not why it happens, but why it doesn't always happen. What normally keeps our cells in check? It is a question that not even modern science can fully deliver on, but it is being actively researched. Johnson takes us to look at what is known, and talks to some of the people who were the ones to discover it, as well as those who are attempting to learn more.

Why do we get cancer? As well ask why we die at all, and then ask why we live in the first place. Which is to say, it is the sort of question that teaches you a great deal about yourself, even if the answer to it is still not quite in reach. In the end, it is probably impossible to write a book about cancer that is not at least a little melancholy. But, if you want to look the monster under the bed square in the eye and take the measure of it, it helps to have a guide like Johnson to introduce you to it.

[James Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

George Johnson opens his book, on the page preceding chapter one, with an epigraph from Reynolds Price's memoir about his own struggle with cancer that left him in a paraplegic state. I mention this because I was moved by my reading of Price's book almost two decades ago and, while it was an eloquent expression of the experience of cancer it did not, as I remember, inform me significantly about the nature of the disease itself. With The Cancer Chronicles George Johnson, a writer whose book Fire in the Mind impressed me several years ago, shares both the history and nature of the disease called Cancer and a memoir of his wife's own battle with that disease.
The history of cancer begins very far back in prehistoric times for it seems that scientists have found that the disease was already present in the age of Dinosaurs. This revelation along with others made the book both informative and interesting to read. His chronicle of the history of the science of cancer explores the realms of epidemiology. clinical trials, laboratory experiments while sharing information from evolutionary biology and other sciences. Even the economics of the Cancer research juggernaut is described -- an industry that has grown to an immense size in the search for an elusive "cure" for cancer.
Cancer the disease is at the core of the book and permeates the narrative, but the chronicles reveal what is in reality multiple different diseases. Each cancer affects different parts of the body and different groups of humans in unique ways. This is an important part of the story and represents some of the basis for many of the obstacles scientists continue to face in analyzing how to stop or prevent the disease.
Johnson capably personalizes the story with interludes where he shares his wife's struggle with Cancer. In doing this he reveals a view of the disease from the point of view of the everyday person who must deal with the practicalities of diagnoses and treatments and hospital stays. For those of us who have family or close friends who have had the experience of this disease the narrative is a moving personal story. I also appreciated the literary allusions whether explicit, like the reference to Solzhenitsyn's masterpiece Cancer Ward, or implicit. The author is eloquent both in his telling analysis of the disease and in his personal memoir; he demonstrates an ability to convey scientific concepts lucidly enough for the layman to understand. These characteristics and the fascination that the author shares for scientific discovery make this a great book full of insights into the deep mysteries of some of the most complex areas of modern medicine.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Cancer Chronicles by science writer George Johnson is a well written, well researched book. As the writer describes his wife’s battle with cancer he takes us on a quick journey through the history & recent research concerning cancer.

It was interesting to discover that dinosaurs had cancer and that fossils provide inconvertible evidence. I also had no idea that today's cancer researchers had moved away from the idea that toxic environments (e.g., breathing polluted air, working in chemical plants) were what caused cancer, & had progressed to the notion that individual behavioral factors (e.g., obesity, lack of exercise) were the more likely triggers.

Now if you're looking for a positive, upbeat, "let's beat Cancer!" kind of book, this isn't it. Johnson says that while we've made significant strides, our understanding of why it happens & how to treat it still has a long way to go. Studies are frequently flawed & inconclusive, & recommendations that eating fruits & vegetables or any particular food will help prevent cancer do not hold up under more rigorous testing. There is some correlation that exercise & maintaining a healthy body & diet helps, but the benefits are often small & disputed.

This was stunning to me. If a specific chemical or activity can be linked to a 30% increase in cancer (which sounds very dramatic), & if your odds were only 1.2% in the beginning it only translates to new odds of 1.56%, which is still within normal & random variations. Even exposure to radiation isn't as cut & dried as you might think.

Again he does point out that:
Single greatest cause of cancer is smoking cigarettes.
Obesity is a clear correlative factor in cancer.
Eating fruits & vegetable doesn't do much one way or the other.(p. 146)
Exercise helps prevent cancer.
"Fat cells synthesize estrogen. Insulin, estrogen, obesity, cancer--all are tied into the same metabolic knot." (p. 148)
Tall people are at greater risk. (p. 148)
Four million human cells divide and copy their DNA every second. (p. 186)

His statement in the middle of the book sums it up best;
"'Cancer is not a disease. It's a hundred different diseases'--how many times has that been said? Now the talk is of cancer as tens of thousands of diseases each with its own molecular signature. One day, as technologies develop, scientists may be able to routinely analyze the unique characteristics of every individual cancer and provide each patient with a personally crafted therapy. It is a lot to hope."

[Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Things are rarely as simple as they seem, and what appears to be complex may be no more than ripples on the surface of a fathomless ocean," writes NY Times science writer, George Johnson, in this nearly perfect chronicle on the complexities of cancer.
Despite the mission accomplished messages of the 1970's War on Cancer and the media's promise to eradicate the disease in our lifetime, there are still no guarantees. It's not that we have no hope, we should at least have some with the knowledge that each year the mortality rate decreases. But in reality, we know so much and yet so little about this strange phenomenon that stops us in our tracks and forces us to almost literally fight the physical forces of good and evil.
This books is probably the best account I've read on the disease because it illuminates the basic principles of cancer without requiring the reader to absorb more than one sentence at a time. What I loved most about Johnson's writing is that he seemed to understand that a topic as complex as cancer, its history, biology, and future, must be crafted in a way that is readable and easy to digest. That's not to say he shied away from any complexities. After all, cancer, in and of itself, is one giant, multifarious monster. But, Johnson's writing addresses the intricacies of the disease, especially his breakdown on the landmark report, "Hallmarks of Cancer", with the reader in mind.
I really believe that one of the biggest stumbling blocks for cancer patients is that they don't understand the disease. They don't know where it comes from and they don't know what it's doing. They just know it kills. Finally, George Johnson gives us a readable account that can be understood. Regardless of the fact that many things about cancer are still a mystery, it's nice to finally have a poet tell us that.
This book is a landmark on cancer (I've read Robert Weinberg and "Emperor of All Maladies") and finally gives the layperson a fighting chance to understand this disease. For that, it deserves praise, awards, accolades, and deserves to be on the shelves of anyone affected by this disease, which is all.

[Todd Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some people enjoy books about vampires, or hobbits, or bondage … but if there’s any truth to the adage ‘hold your friends close and your enemies closer’ I’d recommend you read about cancer. Here’s a cheerful fact … according to the American Cancer Society 40% of people are diagnosed with cancer at some point during their lifetime and of those diagnosed it will be fatal to about half. Not to put too fine a point on it but there’s a very good chance that cancer is going to kill you or someone you love. And it doesn’t kill you with kindness, it’s a horrible disease.

It’s also fascinating.

In The Cancer Chronicles science writer George Johnson delves into the subject after his wife was stricken with the disease. What he finds is that not only has cancer always been with us, but it’s inextricably linked to the evolutionary processes that brought us into existence. One might be tempted to wish that cells weren’t subject to genetic mutation since this would do away with cancer entirely … until one realizes that, in the absence of mutation, evolution could not take place. In exchange for a cancer free existence our lives would be relegated to that of a single-celled organism. Now, I have nothing against paramecium, but that doesn’t mean I want to be one either.

Given that we’re stuck with cancer for the time being Johnson next investigates its causes. While there are some things we can do to reduce our chances of contracting the disease (diet, exercise, the use of sunblock, stop smoking) the bulk of cancers are due to the random effects of mutation and cell division and are beyond our control.

Johnson does a nice job describing the disease, mixing personal anecdote with our current scientific understanding. My one criticism of the book is the Johnson is overly enamored with technical and medical terms. He doesn’t so much sprinkle them through the text as heap them on upon the other. As a science journalist he really should know better.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cancer Chronicles by George Johnson is book that delves into the mystery of cancer. The book begins with the discovery of tumors in dinosaur bones and ends in the modern day. Throughout the book, the author flips between past and present and intertwines them to help paint a clearer picture of this disease.

I very much enjoyed reading this book and found the subject matter fascinating, though alarming. No one wants to read about cancer (or even think about it, for that matter) but at the same time, one hopes to learn something that can help avoid it in oneself. I have a advanced degree in Neuroscience, and was able to effortlessly get through the book, although I did get hung up at times on the pronunciation of the various cancers and drugs. It is very well written but reads more like a textbook. Mr. Johnson does interject stories from his life which helps break up some of the text about cancer that might be too dry or long otherwise.

This book is not a lifestyle book - it is not going to tell you what to do or not to do to avoid cancer. It does, however, give you a clearer picture of cancer at it's basic level and how it might originate. I learned more about cancer than I knew before and walked away with a clearer understanding of this disease. *Received this book free through Goodreads First Reads.