Cancerland ― A Medical Memoir

From Dr. David Scadden, co-founder of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, comes Cancerland, an audiobook about loss and hope in the world of cancer.

What is it like to encounter cancer? How does it feel to face the unknown, to enter a world of hope, loss, and dread?

From the diagnosis of his childhood friend’s mother to his poignant memories in the lab, David Scadden’s seen the unknown world of cancer from the lens of a young boy, a classmate, a researcher, a friend, a doctor, and a neighbor. Scadden chronicles his personal memories of cancer – his visits to his sick neighbor and his classmate who left school and never came back.

Now Dr. David Scadden, co-founder of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and one of the world's leading experts on immunology and oncology, writes his memoir with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael D'Antonio. With riveting stories and moving compassion, Scadden and D’Antonio paint a still rapidly changing landscape in the context of all too common stories of loss. Ranging from Scadden’s personal childhood memories to his triumphs and regrets as a doctor, Scadden illuminates a light at the end of a dark tunnel.

Through opening a window into the science of medicine in the world of the unknown, Scadden and D’Antonio humanize cancer while inspiring action that we all so desperately need.

Praise for Cancerland:

"In Cancerland, Dr. Scadden brilliantly unravels the position cancer occupies in our collective history and consciousness with intimacy and candor. He notes our collective debt to the scientists who laid the groundwork for the remarkable advances we will see to fruition in our lifetime. And he reminds us that medical science is truly a labor of love, done in service of society, and that the advances of science are truly worthy of not only our investment but our awe. Cancerland depicts medicinal science as it truly is: humbling, heart-breaking, complex and inspiring." — Rana Awdish, author of In Shock

"Trying to understand the scientific underpinnings of cancer and the mysterious ways in which various cancers arise and spread is daunting. Stopping cancer in its tracks and curing it is an even more formidable task. Dr. David Scadden, a gifted physician scientist, has penned (with Michael D'Antonio) a dazzling and optimistic medical memoir that describes his personal life-long journey to use his scientific knowledge to combat one of the most complex diseases ever known and serve humanity. Scadden writes with humility, compassion and a sense of unbridled duty. Read this book and you will feel your heart expand and your spirit soar." — Sanjiv Chopra

DAVID SCADDEN is the Gerald and Darlene Jordan Professor of Medicine at Harvard University. He is a hematologist/oncologist and Director of the Center for Regenerative Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital. He co-founded the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and is Chair of the Harvard University Dept. of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. On a team of journalists from Newsday, MICHAEL D’ANTONIO won the Pulitzer Prize before writing many acclaimed books. He lives in New York.