Dr. Azra Raza: The Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last

Azra Raza is the Chan Soon-Shiong professor of medicine and the director of the MDS Center at Columbia University. A world-class oncologist, she has cared for thousands of cancer patients. Yet in her highly acclaimed new book, The First Cell, she asks why so little progress has been made in diagnosing and treating cancer over the past few decades. Despite all the hype to the contrary, she says, we have lost the war on cancer. We spend $150 billion each year treating it—yet succeed in most cases in adding mere months to a patient’s life at agonizing physical and financial cost.

So what are the alternatives? Join her for a profoundly illuminating, realistic, and positive conversation about her book and about how we should move forward in treating cancer with science, wisdom, and grace.