To Be of Use

The year is 1971. Childhood leukemia, the most feared disease in the era of antibiotics, is the most common cancer of childhood and 100% fatal. These are trying times for those like me who, unaccountably, have chosen the field of pediatric oncology. In the absence of effective treatment, we have little to offer but our good intentions. On the other hand, things couldn't get much worse, so we are certain that they must get better. Little do we know, however, that we are on the cusp of a breakthrough. It has been observed that remissions achieved with combinations of chemotherapy drugs often end with the appearance of leukemic cells in the nervous system. Perhaps the nervous system is a "sanctuary site" where drugs cannot reach leukemic cells. To address this problem, radiation is given to the brain. Within a few years we notice that many children are still in remission longer than expected. Ultimately, we are willing to call them "cured". This book relates this and numerous other major developments In cancer treatment as experienced by the author who provides his personal perspective on those people and events which moved the field forward and others that didn't. The current status is critically and sometimes humorously reviewed.
About the Author: Edward Arenson was born in Philadelphia on April 11, 1945, the day before the death of FDR, in the Philadelphia Lying -In Hospital where both parents were hospitalized, his mother for obvious reasons and his father, who was a Naval officer, because of intoxication after the send-off of a hated commander. Edward was a sickly and inconsolable infant and was hospitalized for whooping cough and pneumonia, but survived. Early illness and traumatic hospital experiences planted the seeds for a career in medicine. The author was an excellent and driven student and, like both parents, was admitted to Cornell University where he majored in English and Art History and took the prerequisite courses for medical school. He was following the advice of a beloved Latin teacher who advised her protegees to learn "something about everything and everything about something". Edward was admitted to Hahnemann Medical College, now Drexel University, where he excelled and was admitted to AOA Medical Honor Society. During the third year of medical school, he decided to pursue a career in pediatric blood and cancer the training for which began at Children's Hospital in Denver and was completed, after two years in the Army Medical Corp, at UCLA. At UCLA, Dr. Arenson focused on cancer and bone marrow transplantation before moving to Albany Medical College as Section Head of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology. There he developed an interest in brain cancer before returning to Denver to focus on "neuro-oncology" at the Children's Hospital. After a short stay there, he departed to form a new competing children's program at another hospital where he began accepting referrals of adults with brain tumors. Ultimately, it was necessary to leave pediatrics and focus on the latter for the rest of his career with considerable success. Later, Dr. Arenson became interested in the problems of cancer survivors and the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy to treat the late effects of radiation therapy. Dr. Arenson, aged 75, is now retired and resides in both Denver, Colorado and McNab's Cove, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia where he hopes to write, paint, play drums, and chase more birds.