PBS, Ken Burns and Katie Couric are collaborating to bring cancer’s biography to television in a six hour mini-series. The series will bring to the screen a powerful book known as the "Emperor of All Maladies." The book is a biography of cancer by an oncologist, Siddhartha Mukherjee, who also is a wonderful story-teller. The book won a Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction, and for many weeks sat at the top of the NYT best-seller list. Katie Couric and Stand Up to Cancer are moving forces behind the project.
This public focus is long overdue. Today, cancer effects virtually every American family in one way or another. Over a decade, new cancers in the US equal the population of the cities (not suburbs) of NY, LA, and Chicago. And 575,000 Americans die from cancer every year. But, as a nation, we still fail to give subject nearly enough attention in terms of research, human support, and laws that will accelerate research and diagnostic tools. Accordingly, a growing number of groups are fed up, and increasing the advocacy – our national budgets and legislators should be doing for cancer as much as we did for AIDS, and as much as we do in the name of "homeland security." After all, cancer is the most lethal terrorist on our planet.