
Cancerland
A Medical Memoir
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $20.24
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Robert Fass
-
David Scadden - introduction afterword
About this listen
From Dr. David Scadden, co-founder of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, comes Cancerland, an audiobook about loss and hope in the world of cancer.
What is it like to encounter cancer? How does it feel to face the unknown, to enter a world of hope, loss, and dread? From the diagnosis of his childhood friend’s mother to his poignant memories in the lab, David Scadden’s seen the unknown world of cancer from the lens of a young boy, a classmate, a researcher, a friend, a doctor, and a neighbor. Scadden chronicles his personal memories of cancer - his visits to his sick neighbor and his classmate who left school and never came back.
Now Dr. David Scadden, co-founder of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and one of the world's leading experts on immunology and oncology, writes his memoir with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael D'Antonio. With riveting stories and moving compassion, Scadden and D’Antonio paint a still rapidly changing landscape in the context of all too common stories of loss. Ranging from his personal childhood memories to his triumphs and regrets as a doctor, Scadden illuminates a light at the end of a dark tunnel. Through opening a window into the science of medicine in the world of the unknown, Scadden and D’Antonio humanize cancer while inspiring action that we all so desperately need.
©2018 Michael Scadden and Michael D'Antonio (P)2018 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Between Two Kingdoms
- A Memoir of a Life Interrupted
- By: Suleika Jaouad
- Narrated by: Suleika Jaouad
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer after graduating from college, Suleika Jaouad was preparing, as they say in commencement speeches, to enter “the real world”. She had fallen in love and moved to Paris to pursue her dream of becoming a war correspondent. The real world she found, however, would take her into a very different kind of conflict zone. It started with an itch - first on her feet, then up her legs, like a thousand invisible mosquito bites. Then a trip to the doctor and, a few weeks shy of her 23rd birthday, a diagnosis: leukemia, with a 35 percent chance of survival.
-
-
This was painful.
- By Meredith Nutrition on 07-31-22
By: Suleika Jaouad
-
When Breath Becomes Air
- By: Paul Kalanithi, Abraham Verghese - foreword
- Narrated by: Sunil Malhotra, Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated.
-
-
Phenomenal book!
- By A. Potter on 01-16-16
By: Paul Kalanithi, and others
-
The Emperor of All Maladies
- A Biography of Cancer
- By: Siddhartha Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Emperor of All Maladies reveals the many faces of an iconic, shape-shifting disease that is the defining plague of our generation. The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience, and perseverance but also of hubris, arrogance, paternalism, and misperception, all leveraged against a disease that, just three decades ago, was thought to be easily vanquished in an all-out "war against cancer".
-
-
Incredible
- By S.R.E. on 03-02-16
-
The Song of the Cell
- An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human
- By: Siddhartha Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of The Emperor of All Maladies, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and The Gene, a #1 New York Times bestseller, comes his most spectacular book yet, an exploration of medicine and our radical new ability to manipulate cells. Rich with Mukherjee’s revelatory and exhilarating stories of scientists, doctors, and the patients whose lives may be saved by their work, The Song of the Cell is the third book in this extraordinary writer’s exploration of what it means to be human.
-
-
Beyond Words Wonderful
- By Lynn on 11-27-22
-
Dying to Be Me
- My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing
- By: Anita Moorjani
- Narrated by: Anita Moorjani
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this book, Anita shares how after fighting cancer for almost four years, her body began shutting down. As her organs failed, she entered into an extraordinary near-death experience where she would realize her inherent worth and the actual cause of her disease. Upon regaining consciousness, Anita found that her condition had improved so rapidly that she was able to be released from the hospital within weeks . . . without a trace of cancer in her body!
-
-
Eye opening, inspiring and so beautiful written
- By Jimmy Maziarka on 04-24-22
By: Anita Moorjani
-
Critical Care
- A New Nurse Faces Death, Life, and Everything in Between
- By: Theresa Brown
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her former career as an English professor, Theresa Brown had been shielded from the harsh reality of death. That all changed the day she decided to become an oncology nurse. In Critical Care, Theresa writes powerfully and honestly about her first year on the hospital floor. With great compassion and a disarming sense of humor, she shares the trials and triumphs of her patients and comes to realize that caring for a patient means much more than simply treating a disease.
-
-
Excellent all the way around!
- By Susan on 10-12-17
By: Theresa Brown
-
Between Two Kingdoms
- A Memoir of a Life Interrupted
- By: Suleika Jaouad
- Narrated by: Suleika Jaouad
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer after graduating from college, Suleika Jaouad was preparing, as they say in commencement speeches, to enter “the real world”. She had fallen in love and moved to Paris to pursue her dream of becoming a war correspondent. The real world she found, however, would take her into a very different kind of conflict zone. It started with an itch - first on her feet, then up her legs, like a thousand invisible mosquito bites. Then a trip to the doctor and, a few weeks shy of her 23rd birthday, a diagnosis: leukemia, with a 35 percent chance of survival.
-
-
This was painful.
- By Meredith Nutrition on 07-31-22
By: Suleika Jaouad
-
When Breath Becomes Air
- By: Paul Kalanithi, Abraham Verghese - foreword
- Narrated by: Sunil Malhotra, Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated.
-
-
Phenomenal book!
- By A. Potter on 01-16-16
By: Paul Kalanithi, and others
-
The Emperor of All Maladies
- A Biography of Cancer
- By: Siddhartha Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Emperor of All Maladies reveals the many faces of an iconic, shape-shifting disease that is the defining plague of our generation. The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience, and perseverance but also of hubris, arrogance, paternalism, and misperception, all leveraged against a disease that, just three decades ago, was thought to be easily vanquished in an all-out "war against cancer".
-
-
Incredible
- By S.R.E. on 03-02-16
-
The Song of the Cell
- An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human
- By: Siddhartha Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of The Emperor of All Maladies, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and The Gene, a #1 New York Times bestseller, comes his most spectacular book yet, an exploration of medicine and our radical new ability to manipulate cells. Rich with Mukherjee’s revelatory and exhilarating stories of scientists, doctors, and the patients whose lives may be saved by their work, The Song of the Cell is the third book in this extraordinary writer’s exploration of what it means to be human.
-
-
Beyond Words Wonderful
- By Lynn on 11-27-22
-
Dying to Be Me
- My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing
- By: Anita Moorjani
- Narrated by: Anita Moorjani
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this book, Anita shares how after fighting cancer for almost four years, her body began shutting down. As her organs failed, she entered into an extraordinary near-death experience where she would realize her inherent worth and the actual cause of her disease. Upon regaining consciousness, Anita found that her condition had improved so rapidly that she was able to be released from the hospital within weeks . . . without a trace of cancer in her body!
-
-
Eye opening, inspiring and so beautiful written
- By Jimmy Maziarka on 04-24-22
By: Anita Moorjani
-
Critical Care
- A New Nurse Faces Death, Life, and Everything in Between
- By: Theresa Brown
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her former career as an English professor, Theresa Brown had been shielded from the harsh reality of death. That all changed the day she decided to become an oncology nurse. In Critical Care, Theresa writes powerfully and honestly about her first year on the hospital floor. With great compassion and a disarming sense of humor, she shares the trials and triumphs of her patients and comes to realize that caring for a patient means much more than simply treating a disease.
-
-
Excellent all the way around!
- By Susan on 10-12-17
By: Theresa Brown
-
Lessons from the Edge
- A Memoir
- By: Marie Yovanovitch
- Narrated by: Marie Yovanovitch
- Length: 17 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the time she became US Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch had seen her share of corruption, instability, and tragedy in developing countries. But it came as a shock when, in early 2019, she was recalled from her post after a smear campaign by President Trump’s personal attorney and his associates—men operating outside of normal governmental channels, and apparently motivated by personal gain. Her courageous participation in the subsequent impeachment inquiry earned Yovanovitch the nation’s respect, and her dignified response to the president’s attacks won our hearts.
-
-
Heroic patriot's amazing story
- By Victoria Eriksson on 03-19-22
-
The Man Who Touched His Own Heart
- True Tales of Science, Surgery, and Mystery
- By: Rob Dunn
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thought of as the seat of our soul, then as a mysteriously animated object, the heart is still more a mystery than it is understood. Why do most animals only get one billion beats? (And how did modern humans get to over two billion - effectively letting us live out two lives?) Why are sufferers of gingivitis more likely to have heart attacks? And what does it really feel like to touch your own heart, or to have someone else's beating inside your chest?
-
-
Great book and good narration too.
- By truth hurts always on 07-01-15
By: Rob Dunn
-
Life Force
- How New Breakthroughs in Precision Medicine Can Transform the Quality of Your Life & Those You Love
- By: Tony Robbins, Peter H. Diamandis, Robert Hariri
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Tony Robbins, Peter Diamandis, and others
- Length: 22 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Transform your life or the life of someone you love with Life Force - the newest breakthroughs in health technology to help maximize your energy and strength, prevent disease, and extend your health span - from Tony Robbins, author of the number one New York Times best seller Money: Master the Game.
-
-
Intresting, great information for the wealthy.
- By K. Smith on 02-19-22
By: Tony Robbins, and others
-
Deadliest Enemy
- Our War Against Killer Germs
- By: Michael T. Osterholm, Mark Olshaker, Michael T. Osterholm PhD MPH
- Narrated by: Jamie Renell
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are facing an overwhelming army of deadly, invisible enemies. We need a plan - before it's too late. Unlike natural disasters, whose destruction is concentrated in a limited area over a period of days, and illnesses, which have devastating effects but are limited to individuals and their families, infectious disease has the terrifying power to disrupt everyday life on a global scale, overwhelming public and private resources and bringing trade and transportation to a grinding halt.
-
-
Topical treatise on virus flu pandemics
- By Wayne on 03-15-20
By: Michael T. Osterholm, and others
-
A Crack in Creation
- Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution
- By: Jennifer A. Doudna, Samuel H. Sternberg
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Not since the atomic bomb has a technology so alarmed its inventors that they warned the world about its use. Not, that is, until the spring of 2015, when biologist Jennifer Doudna called for a worldwide moratorium on the use of the new gene-editing tool CRISPR - a revolutionary new technology that she helped create - to make heritable changes in human embryos.
-
-
In to the abyss we ascend, a scary future
- By Philomath on 06-17-17
By: Jennifer A. Doudna, and others
-
The Philadelphia Chromosome
- A Mutant Gene and the Quest to Cure Cancer at the Genetic Level
- By: Jessica Wapner
- Narrated by: Heather Henderson
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Almost daily, headlines announce newly discovered links between cancers and their genetic causes. Science journalist Jessica Wapner vividly relates the backstory behind those headlines, reconstructing the crucial breakthroughs, explaining the science behind them, and giving due to the dozens of researchers, doctors, and patients whose curiosity and determination restored the promise of a future to the more than 50,000 people diagnosed each year with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).
-
-
Great topic for those in medicine
- By Ronda on 03-17-16
By: Jessica Wapner
-
Tripping Over the Truth
- The Return of the Metabolic Theory of Cancer Illuminates a New and Hopeful Path to a Cure
- By: Travis Christofferson
- Narrated by: Clay Lomakayu
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A masterful synchronization of history and cutting-edge science shines new light on humanity's darkest diagnosis. In the wake of the Cancer Genome Atlas project's failure to provide a legible road map to a cure for cancer, science writer Travis Christofferson illuminates a promising blend of old and new perspectives on the disease.
-
-
Non-fiction books - please include references
- By yaelb on 06-15-16
-
The Drug Hunters
- The Improbable Quest to Discover New Medicines
- By: Donald R. Kirsch PhD, Ogi Ogas PhD
- Narrated by: James Foster
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The search to find medicines is as old as disease, which is to say as old as the human race. Through serendipity - by chewing, brewing, and snorting - some Neolithic souls discovered opium, alcohol, snakeroot, juniper, frankincense, and other helpful substances. Ötzi the Iceman, the 5,000-year-old hunter frozen in the Italian Alps, was found to have whipworms in his intestines and Bronze Age medicine, a worm-killing birch fungus, knotted to his leggings.
-
-
Aargh!
- By Curmud the prof on 05-20-17
By: Donald R. Kirsch PhD, and others
-
Miracle Cure
- The Creation of Antibiotics and the Birth of Modern Medicine
- By: William Rosen
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As late as the 1930s, virtually no drug intended for sickness did any good; doctors could set bones, deliver babies, and offer palliative care. That all changed in less than a generation with the discovery and development of a new category of medicine known as antibiotics. By 1955 the age-old evolutionary relationship between humans and microbes had been transformed, trivializing once-deadly infections.
-
-
Excellence
- By xar adelberg on 09-18-17
By: William Rosen
-
An Elegant Defense
- The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System: A Tale in Four Lives
- By: Matt Richtel
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A magnificently reported and soulfully crafted exploration of the human immune system - the key to health and wellness, life and death. An epic, first-of-its-kind audiobook, entwining leading-edge scientific discovery with the intimate stories of four individual lives, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist.
-
-
Weak foundation, good conclusion
- By David on 03-24-19
By: Matt Richtel
-
The Beautiful Cure
- The Revolution in Immunology and What It Means for Your Health
- By: Daniel M. Davis
- Narrated by: Jot Davies
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The immune system holds the key to human health. In The Beautiful Cure, leading immunologist Daniel M. Davis describes how the scientific quest to understand how the immune system works - and how it is affected by stress, sleep, age, and our state of mind - is now unlocking a revolutionary new approach to medicine and well-being. The body's ability to fight disease and heal itself is one of the great mysteries and marvels of nature. But in recent years, painstaking research has resulted in major advances in our grasp of this breathtakingly beautiful inner world....
-
-
Wonderful Book about your Immune System
- By Brad Armstrong on 06-05-19
By: Daniel M. Davis
-
Cells Are the New Cure
- The Cutting-Edge Medical Breakthroughs That Are Transforming Our Health
- By: Sanjay Gupta MD - Foreword, Max Gomez PhD, Robin L. Smith MD
- Narrated by: Randye Kaye
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Promising treatments now in more than 35,000 clinical trials could have dramatic impacts on cancer, autoimmune diseases, organ replacement, heart disease, and even aging itself. These treatments, which are saving the lives of patients in the trials, will soon be rolled to the medical community at large. The key to these breakthroughs is the use of living cells as medicine instead of traditional drugs. Research has found that our bodies are virtual treasure troves of adult cells that act as agents of remarkable healing and repair.
-
-
Amazing! Must listen!
- By Max pavlovich on 04-30-18
By: Sanjay Gupta MD - Foreword, and others
Critic reviews
"In Cancerland, Dr. Scadden brilliantly unravels the position cancer occupies in our collective history and consciousness with intimacy and candor... Cancerland depicts medicinal science as it truly is: humbling, heart-breaking, complex and inspiring." (Rana Awdish, author of In Shock)
"Dr. David Scadden, a gifted physician scientist, has penned (with Michael D'Antonio) a dazzling and optimistic medical memoir that describes his personal life-long journey to use his scientific knowledge to combat one of the most complex diseases ever known and serve humanity. Scadden writes with humility, compassion and a sense of unbridled duty." (Sanjiv Chopra)
What listeners say about Cancerland
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jitendra Kumar Meena
- 07-20-21
great read!
loved learning about the interesting facts about the evolution of cancer research. adequately presented in small stories, sometimes personal to understand the researcher's, physician's and the patient's perspective. current generation of scientists need to know more of this history to not repeat the mistakes of the previous century.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Andrea
- 06-14-19
Very inspiring book about research
I really enjoyed listening to this book. I happen to be a registered nurse and I don’t know if everyone would understand all of the information provided. But I found it extremely resourceful. I feel much more confident about the future with researchers and professors like Dr. Skadden who seems so dedicated to what he’s doing. I’m waiting to see if he writes anything else equally as refreshing as this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful