A magnificently written "biography" of cancer--from its origins to the epic battle to cure, control, and conquer it.

People who smoke or use tobacco are at risk of developing throat cancer or malignant tumors of the vocal chords. Excessive alcohol use also increases risk. Most cancers of the throat or larynx develop in adults older than 50, and men are ten times more likely than women to develop them.

In The First Cell, Azra Raza offers a searing account of how both medicine and our society (mis)treats cancer, how we can do better, and why we must. A lyrical journey from hope to despair and back again, The First Cell explores cancer from every angle: medical, scientific, cultural, and personal. Indeed, Raza describes how she bore the terrible burden of being her own husband's oncologist as he succumbed to leukemia. Like When Breath Becomes Air,...

Treatments for prostate cancer come with a range of side effects like impotence, incontinence, and sometimes rectal bleeding. In this video clip, meet Gary O'Shea, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer and had to make the difficult decision about what to do next. Fearing the side effects, he declined treatment all together, and instead chose the procedure that is free of any side effects: active surveillance or "deferred therapy.

A panel of independent experts decided that the high incidence of breast cancer among women who had worked in the Australian Broadcasting Company's Brisbane newsroom could not be put down to chance so the site was permanently closed down and all production facilities relocated. This video segment investigates cancer clusters: particular environments with a greater than expected number of cancer cases. The official recognition of a cancer cluster is...

Women may be able to treat their breast cancer with a gel that is applied to the skin. Research at Northwestern University has shown that a gel form of tamoxifen applied to the breasts of women with noninvasive breast cancer reduced the growth of cancer cells to the same degree as the drug taken in oral form but with fewer side effects that deter some women from taking it.

One of the biggest challenges in the research for new cancer treatments is the fact that many tumours are equipped with a molecular shield that allows them to repel attacks from the immune system. Since the 1980s, there have been cancer therapies which aimed at enhancing the body’s anti-cancer immune reaction, but it was only in 2012 that a research team at Johns Hopkins University, led by melanoma specialist Suzanne L. Topalian, gave hope to disable...

Evie is living on borrowed time. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer several months ago and told that by now she'd be dead. Evie is grateful for every extra day she gets, but she knows that soon this disease will kill her. Until, miraculously, she may have a second chance to live. All Evie had wanted was her life back, but now that she has it, she feels like there's no place for her in it--at least, not for the girl she is now. Her friends and...