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DR. SULOCHANA GAWANDE PhD
" This book answers questions I've heard time and again from patients and caregivers throughout my career."
I sincerely feel that this book fills an important need; it allows the everyday reader to find true, direct, easy-to-understand answers to the most basic cancer-related questions.
Part One clarifies the science of the disease and takes the reader through the history of the fight against cancer. It describes some of the most common forms of cancer and simplifies many complicated topics such as clinical trials and immunotherapy. It also provides strategies and lifestyle changes for effective cancer prevention, as well as advice on what to do after a cancer diagnosis (and what you should not do or trust).
Part Two looks at the human face of this disease. Through real, heartfelt stories, I try to show how people manage to live purposefully and with hope in the face of cancer.
Let me tell you the whole story. . .
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I grew up in a modest middle-class family in Mumbai. My biggest asset was access to education, something most people in the surrounding low-income communities could not have. As a result, I always felt a keen desire to help people.
While doing my doctoral research at the Tata Memorial Center, India’s leading cancer hospital, I met many patients and their families. Their plight — fear, anguish and helplessness — was often made worse due to ignorance about cancer.
These experiences had a profound effect on me. Cancer is a scary and mysterious disease and there is a lot of misinformation about it in the general population. I resolved to write a book that would empower and educate people by increasing scientific awareness about cancer.
My book began as a bi-weekly column in a popular Marathi-language newspaper based in Mumbai with a total readership of around 3.8 million. I was astounded by the success of the column; I received hundreds of emails from readers.
When the column concluded, The Times hosted a Facebook Live Q&A, which was attended by well over 100,000 people. I then proceeded to collect the articles into a book. Subsequently, India’s National Public Radio, All India Radio, decided to record and broadcast the entire book in weekly installments.
The English version of the book is updated with the latest information. I believe that it can be of great use to the American public and to the wider English-speaking world.
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