Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies

Gr 9 Up—This six-hour adaptation of Siddhartha Mukherjee's Pulitzer Prize-winning book (Scribner, 2010) presents the intertwined history of cancer and humankind. Each two-hour episode is divided into approximately 16 chapters, alternating medical history with the (sometimes heart-wrenching) stories of current cancer patients and their families. The first episode covers the first known documentations of cancer and the groundbreaking surgery of Victorian William Halsted, among other treatments, and onto the 1970s. Episode two continues with research and advances through roughly 2000. The final chapter, "Finding an Achilles Heel," covers cutting-edge technology and where treatment might be headed in the future. Throughout, historic footage shares time with physician and researcher interviews and touching footage of affected individuals from toddlers to grandparents. Mukherjee is a compelling narrator throughout. The medical aspects of cancer research are examined to a depth that may lose some viewers, though the graphics of pulsing cells and mutated DNA are always informative. The roles of fund-raising, politics, research decisions, marketing (cigarettes, for example), and end-of-life choices are given close attention in episode three. The special features include a two-minute making-of interview and 20-minute interviews with two women who have cancer.