You’ve Earned It
Cancer inspiration and survivor Dilys is retiring so not sure how long the link to her site will be available. Bouncing back after being given 4 months to live, is quite a story, so read it while you can.
Heavy Going
My reading of The Emperor of All Maladies – A Biography of Cancer continues slowly. Early part of the book is really a history of leukaemia and chemo-therapy. Why leukaemia, a cancer of the blood rather than some other type? Answer, measurement. People who look pale or anaemic are likley to be so for two of several reasons. Lack of red blood cells is probably the most common but in the case of leukaemia, it is too many white cells. Most of us know that our white blood cells fight infections (including cancer cells) but when white cell numbers explode, there can be a real problem. Cancer is basically uncontrolled/abnormal cell growth which is most cases manifests itself in tumours or if you prefer, lumps. In the case of blood cancer, so many white cells are produced that they suppress the red cells which carry oxygen around the body. Worse still, these surplus white cells are immature. The body is effectively suffocated by teenage members of its own immune system.
Blood samples from people with leukaemia can look pale rather than the deep red we associate with normal blood and it is often fatal in children. Pioneers in cancer treatment started looking at leukaemia as it is straight forward to do a blood cell count on a microscope slide whereas judging how cancer has spread in other areas of the body is more difficult. Children are often very ill by the time they get to these pioneers and early trials have plenty of failures, making the book sometimes a difficult read. Chemo-therapy drugs are cytotoxic meaning they kill cells which results in healthy cells being killed along with the bad ones. Theory of course, is that the healthy cells will bounce back while the bad ones will not. Giving highly toxic drugs to very ill children takes courage for the doctors as the medical establishment has it own politics and vested interests.
Treatment consists of a cocktail with names like CHOP, VAMP, MOPP for the reason that one drug (poison) on its own can become ineffective. One early lesson that look many lives to learn.
But let me finish this cancer article on a lighter note, with an item from page 28 of Mukherjee’s book. Early Twentieth century research into anaemia by Lucy Wills found a surprising cure for anaemia among desperately poor mill workers in Bombay, where many of them were anaemic – particulary women after childbirth. It turned out to be Marmite and the mysterious ingredient which did the job was folic acid regularly prescribed to anaemiacs (?) today.
More Love it or Hate it
Lastly, must thank QI presenter Stephen Fry for mentioning Edward de Bono’s Marmite plan for peace in the Middle East Sometimes, you really can’t make it up.
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