Making Cancer History: Disease and Discovery at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

by James Stuart Olson

The history of the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center vividly reveals how cancer treatment in America―and our attitudes toward the disease―has changed since the middle of the twentieth century. One of the preeminent cancer centers in the world, M. D. Anderson is also one of the first medical institutions devoted exclusively to caring for people with cancer and researching treatments and cures for the disease. Historian James S. Olson’s narrative relates the story of the center’s founding and of the surgeons, radiologists, radiotherapists, nurses, medical oncologists, scientists, administrators, and patients who built M. D. Anderson into the world-class institution it is today. Through interviews with M. D. Anderson’s leaders and patients, Olson brings to life the struggle to understand and treat cancer in America. A cancer survivor who has himself been treated at the center, Olson imbues this history with humor, passion, and humanity.

408 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 2009

Reviews

[Pacific Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging read covering the history of this remarkable institution from its creation to roughly 2007 by a professional writer and cancer survivor. I am obsessed with the lore of this place, and how it started as such an underdog compared to Sloan. I am glad that a true historian has written on MD Anderson's people and accomplishments - by most metrics now the best cancer center in the modern world. Since this book was published, Jim Allison has won the Nobel Prize for checkpoint inhibition in 2018. I truly hope there will come a day when we can make cancer history. The format can be confusing at times and it jumps back and forth in chronology, I think out of a desire to be more comprehensive. I recommend reading though if you or someone you know has been treated there.