Taming Cancer invites readers to imagine a future once thought impossible: a time when a diagnosis of metastatic cancer is no longer the beginning of an inevitable path to suffering and death. Rather, cancer will be a condition that can be medically managed for years, much like diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis. For a growing number of patients, the promise reaches even further—to the lasting elimination of cancer cells from the body, and the possibility of a true cure.
We have entered a new era of cancer medicine that is bringing us ever closer to fulfilling the author's daring vision. The toxic treatments of the past are increasingly being complemented—or replaced—by therapies that are safer, more precise, and more effective. By attacking cancer at its molecular roots and empowering the immune system to recognize and destroy tumors, these drugs are changing not only how cancer is treated, but also what patients can reasonably dare to hope for.
Drawing on four decades as a cancer drug developer, most recently at Amgen, Dr. Kelner offers an insider’s perspective on the immunotherapy revolution in a book that takes readers on a journey of scientific discovery spanning two centuries, explaining where today’s medicines came from, how they work, and why they offer renewed hope to patients and their families.
Written in a clear, accessible, and engaging narrative style, Taming Cancer provides a fast-paced introduction to modern biology, with a particular focus on cancer. The book is intended for students, health care professionals, scientists, and general readers who want to understand “the emperor of all maladies” and the evolving effort to confront one of humanity’s most frightening and unpredictable diseases.