When his father contracted cancer, writer and documentary director Adam Wishart wanted to find a book that answered his most basic questions: What was the disease, how did it take hold and what did it mean? What is it about cancer’s biology that makes it hard to eradicate? How close are we to a cure? There was no such book, so Wishart wrote it. Here is his personal, journalistic take on the history of cancer and the encouraging story of science’s progress in changing the outlook on cancer from a disease that we die from to one that we live with. Where the mere use of the “c” word used to be enough to terrify people, now that attitude is about to change, as genetics and effective treatments become better understood. One in three of us will contract cancer in our life times; uniquely comprehensive and, amazingly enough, optimistic, this book will help us to understand the disease without fear.
I've spent most of the last few years telling stories, either as documentaries or as books.
Five years ago, my Dad fell ill with cancer. There didn't seem to be a book which described the history, physiology and science of the disease. So I ended up writing one.
