Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies

S01E02 The Blind Men and the Elephant

After Richard Nixon declared a "war on cancer" in 1971, the field surged ahead, fueled by optimism and federal funding. In the lab, scientists made rapid strides, uncovering the genetic roots of cancer cells. Yet at the bedside, few new treatments emerged, sparking disillusionment that drove patients and doctors to extreme measures. It wasn’t until the late 1990s that research breakthroughs led to targeted therapies like Gleevec and Herceptin. Woven through this fraught history is the contemporary story of Dr. Lori Wilson, a surgical oncologist diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in both breasts in 2013.