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The Cure of Childhood Leukemia: Into the Age of Miracles Paperback – October 15, 1996

by John Laszlo (Author)

4.6 9 ratings

Fifty years ago, childhood leukemia was always fatal. Though the number of new cases has remained largely unchanged, what has changed is the outcome. In the United States, instead of 2,140 deaths of children with leukemia under the age of fifteen in 1961, there were 597 deaths in 1993, and the figures are improving every year. Today, over 75 percent of children with leukemia can be cured. Yet no one can put a specific date on the cure of leukemia or say which child was the first to live rather than die. Even the doctors and scientists most responsible were astonished to realize that they had reached their goal. Dr. John Laszlo tells the story of this monumental victory over cancer through the voices of nine doctors and researchers. In a counterpoint of voices from patients and parents, Dr. Laszlo re-creates the tense world of hospital wards, of desperately ill children, the bitter days when new therapies ended in relapses, and then the cautious hope as remissions stretched longer and longer.

Print length

287 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Rutgers University Press
Publication date

October 15, 1996
ISBN-10

1615516522
ISBN-13

978-1615516520
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rutgers University Press (October 15, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 287 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1615516522
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1615516520

Customer Reviews:
4.6 9 ratings

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Amandapollak

Delightful and highly readable

Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2023

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I expected something way drier and with way more academic writing. Instead, I found it immensely enjoyable and have already reread parts of it. The chapter on Emil Freireich was especially entertaining. I had childhood leukemia and have read Emperor of All Maladies multiple times. If you are also really interested in the history of cancer or even of hematology, I'd highly recommend this book. If you read Emperor of All Maladies and want to know more, you should read this book. If you want a more uplifting story about successes in medical research, you should read this book. It's such a nice counterpoint to all of the writings elsewhere that are written by people who know nothing about leukemia but who decide to incorporate it into their writing because they know that the idea of childhood leukemia makes people feel things. This is the rare truthful depiction of childhood leukemia that correctly frames it as the site of medical oncology's first major success and as the foundation upon which American oncology is arguably built.

Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2009

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A fascinating and well wrtten accounting of the incredible story behind the conquering of much of childhood leukemia. These are real hero's stories.

One person found this helpful

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Reader 47

Wel Written Book, Growing up, I heard about ...

Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2015

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Wel Written Book,
Growing up, I heard about far too many youngsters who died from childhood leukemia. I followed the research done on this killer as much as I could. I remember going door to door in my neighborhood asking for funds for the Leukemia Society right after football star Ernie Davis succumbed to this disease. His story and how he helped researchers was written up in this book. The cases of the early leukemia survivors and the profiles of the doctors involved is well told. Do read this book.

Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2015

111%

Great book because of first hand knowledge of what REALLY happened

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2021

This book offers first hand knowledge and insights on how miracles happened out of the most challenging of circumstances.

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Steven F. Eisenberg

Wonderful - But Do Proceeds Still Go to Fight Cancer?

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2013

This is primarily a collection of interviews with scientists who, in the course of their careers, moved childhood leukemia from an inevitable death sentence to usually curable.

The book is heartwarming and wonderful, because the interviewees are wonderful. Dr. Laszlo, a cancer researcher himself -- as was his father -- has great rapport with his colleagues, eliciting loads of intriguing, and even outrageous, statements.

The Cure of Childhood Leukemia is not academic history. Laszlo does not have an agenda, beyond that he values his late father, his professional friends, and their patients. Based on the information given, you can draw your own conclusions as to whether the relative cowboy style of cancer research in the 1940's and 1950's was better than the increasingly rule-bound systems for obtaining permission to do research, and obtain drug approvals, seen today.

The real subject of the book, to me, is human nature under extreme stress. Don't worry about it being dated. Just read it. It's good for any adult, and a precocious child with leukemia won't be harmed.

Now,the Amazon Kindle aspect. As I write this, in August 2013, the Kindle edition sells for US$35.40. Because of that price, I borrowed from the public library.

On the dust jacket, it says the author is "donating all royalties to the American Cancer Society." And, on page 4:

"The American Cancer Society gave me the freedom to write the book; the Society is not responsible for its content but will receive its proceeds."

So, Amazon -- how much of that $35.40 is going to the American Cancer Society? If most, it should be noted on this web page, and I then would probably have bought the eBook. If, eighteen years after publication, proceeds are no longer going to battle cancer, shame on whomever is getting the revenue.

2 people found this helpful

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Fcn Grimley

Historical view point but cyto toxins are devistating & experimental.

Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2005

As a mother of 3, one of which has ALL Acute Lymphoblastic leukaemia, and a researcher, I want parents to know that there is more out there than this author offers. The tragedy is a moral one, while they have been using our children as guinee pigs for 30 years they have also shut out all other promising research of less harmful treatments that have shown good results. Only "inefficent" cyto toxins have been promoted and invested in. Fishbowl mentality not serving humanity but serving Big Pharma profits. My 3yr old has nearly died from cyto toxic chemo and this treatment predisposes patients to multiple other cancers in future. Cyto-toxins may be an appropriate first aid but as a prolonged treatment they are harmful in hidden and devistating ways. Hippocrates said "first thout should do no harm", perhaps looking outside the square as they did to find quantum physics, would be more successful and less devistating to families. We have lost everything due to the treatment alone. Alternatives provide more promise and better results but people are frightened and guilted into taking chemo, by MDs, when there are more efficent treatments for the long term with less harmful side effects. THis publication is good for the historical point, showing the investment since the great wars in cyto-toxins. But many competing and more successful treatments have been suppressed due to this treatment. Interestingly chemo has extreemly poor results with any other cancer and yet it is used universally in all cancers. Not exactly commonsense. Multinationals suppress our technology to enable continued profit from fossil fuels and the same authorities suppress competing research in this industry because they don't want to lose market share or admitt the limitations of the cyto-toxic industry. Parents are not given choice in this treatment and the population based statistics used do not cater for individual needs. It has supprised me how little medical professionals know about cutting edge research and how quickly new breakthroughs get lost or dissapear. MD's are only as good as the information provided to them and can the source of information be trusted given the cold war approach to cyto-toxic alternatives. The fishy smell is the economics. Ignorance and economics are putting our children at risk in prevention and cure. A Fact. Cyto-toxins cannot proport to be a cure or miracle, too many children have died from cyto toxic effects and experimentation that continues today. THe crime is in not looking beyond the first aid approach, beyond cyto-toxins, to focus on harm minimisation and treatments that are more efficient than current drugs. THis book is written by someone that is entrenched in the fishbowl mentality and has only painted part of the historical picture. Again he is only as good as the information provided to him. I am a researcher, I know what I am speaking of. Bring parents choice and harm minimisation or get off the podium. It took Medical professionals 200 years before they allowed Vitamin c to become a mainstream treatment of scurvey, shunning the proporter as a quack. OUr children are still dying from ignorance in 2005.

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Top reviews from other countries

midnight reader

Cure of Childhood Leukemia: into the age of miracles

Reviewed in Canada on September 14, 2011

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This is a facinating book. If you are interested in the medical field and cancer treatment, especially the history of cancer treatment this will appeal to you. It is factual but interesting. Childhooh leukemia was a death sentance in the 1950's but work by doctors, pathologists and researchers in various cities in the USA lead to the improvement of treatment, the solving of related problems and the deveolpment of clinical trials that eventually improved survival that took us to where we are today where most children with ALL are cured. This book looks at the recollections of the individuals involved and tells their stories.

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