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The Emperor Of All Maladies Essay

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The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee is a biography of cancer that exhibits how cancer has evolved and traveled to places all over the world.This book is made of multiple stories relating to cancer. These stories are about people’s lives and how they have changed because of cancer. Mukherjee tells not only the story of cancer but also the struggles and hardships of it. First of all, what is cancer? Cancer is the abnormal growth of cells. “Cancer is not one disease but many diseases.” Although, they all share a common aspect, the uncontrolled multiplying and division of cells. When the extra cells that are formed, divide endlessly, they may cause growths called tumors. This …show more content…

Smoking can lead to many types of cancer. Lung, lip, throat, tongue, and esophageal cancer are all caused by smoking. Some would have to have their jawbone sliced off to remove an invasive tongue cancer. He tells stories of his patients and what happened to them because they smoked. He tells of a grandmother who had taught her grandchildren to smoke, then later was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. A priest with terminal lung cancer that had said smoking was the only vice that he had never been able to overcome. Someone who had smoked to calm his nerves, later had to have his jawbone sliced off to remove tongue cancer.
He tells of a Brazilian ophthalmologist named Hilario de Gouvea who had treated a young boy with a very rare eye cancer called retinoblastoma by removing the eye surgically. This boy had survived, grown up, and married a woman who had no family history of cancer. This couple had many children, two of their daughters developed their father’s retinoblastoma in both eyes, and died.
This book is a great way to present facts and also keeps the reader engaged. It presents its details in a story format which makes reading it easier and more enjoyable. It gives information on the different types of cancer and how each of them affect us and what it could lead

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