Mikkael A. Sekeres

A leading cancer specialist tells the compelling stories of three adult leukemia patients and their treatments, the disease itself, and the drugs developed to treat it. When you are told that you have leukemia, your world stops. Your brain can't function. You are asked to make decisions about treatment almost immediately, when you are not in your right mind. And yet you pull yourself together and start asking questions. Beside you is your doctor, whose job it is to solve the awful puzzle of bone marrow gone wrong. The two of you are in it together. In When Blood Breaks Down, Mikkael Sekeres, a leading cancer specialist, takes readers on the journey that patient and doctor travel together. Sekeres, who writes regularly for the Well section of the New York Times, tells the compelling stories of three people who receive diagnoses of adult leukemia within hours of each other: Joan, a 48-year-old surgical nurse, a caregiver who becomes a patient; David, a 68-year-old former factory worker who bows to his family's wishes and pursues the most aggressive treatment; and Sarah, a 36-year-old pregnant woman who must decide whether to undergo chemotherapy and put her fetus at risk. We join the intimacy of the conversations Sekeres has with his patients, and watch as he teaches trainees. Along the way, Sekeres also explores leukemia in its different forms and the development of drugs to treat it—describing, among many other fascinating details, the invention of the bone marrow transplant (first performed experimentally on beagles) and a treatment that targets the genetics of leukemia. The lessons to be learned from leukemia, Sekeres shows, are not merely medical; they teach us about courage and grace and defying the odds.

Life Lessons from Leukemia

When Blood Breaks Down

Theodore A. Stern

Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly 600,000 deaths annually in the United States alone.

A Complete Guide for People with Cancer, Their Families, and Caregivers

Facing Cancer

Safety, Efficacy, and the Public's Trust

Drugs and the FDA

Charles D. Blanke

Edward S. Kim

Derek Raghavan

Gregory H. Reaman

Jubilee Brown

Manmeet S. Ahluwalia

The fifth edition of the only comprehensive text dealing exclusively with rare or infrequently encountered malignancies in adults and children is an essential resource for any clinical oncologist. Encompasses all the information needed to diagnose and manage uncommon cancers, an area where advice and guidance is typically scarce Fully revised with new material and an evidence-based, teach-by-example approach Provides insight on real-world decision making in the clinical setting Edited and authored by a highly experienced and senior team of medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and other specialists, giving a balanced and complete overview Extensively illustrated in full color throughout, including heat maps to show gene expression

Textbook of Uncommon Cancer

Mikkael A. Sekeres

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