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A review by harinid
The First Cell: And the Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last by Azra Raza
5.0
The First Cell by Azra Raza is a book that is in equal parts harrowing, stimulating and informative. Dr. Raza in establishing her hypothesis that the more effective way to spend R&D dollars in cancer therapy is on having a disproportionate amount of resources allocated to early detection (detection of the first cell) vs. spending billions on drugs that work on specific indications/ manifestations of the disease, draws on the pragmatic problems faced by the cancer patients and families as well as emotional. In highlighting that majority of cancer therapies available take a slash (surgery), poison (chemotherapy) or burn (radiation) approach, she brings out almost a medieval mindset that still persists in oncology.
This book was not a bland/ drag read on a very technical subject. The book, in drawing inspiration from poetry (English and Urdu alike), personal stories of patients and from other fields of study, makes the conversation on cancer far more accessible to all. Highly recommend this book- if for nothing else, just to rethink how we approach any class of therapy for any disease really; and of course for the interspersed poetry in the book, directly and indirectly through the author's own command over language.
This book was not a bland/ drag read on a very technical subject. The book, in drawing inspiration from poetry (English and Urdu alike), personal stories of patients and from other fields of study, makes the conversation on cancer far more accessible to all. Highly recommend this book- if for nothing else, just to rethink how we approach any class of therapy for any disease really; and of course for the interspersed poetry in the book, directly and indirectly through the author's own command over language.