A Cancer in the Family: Take Control of Your Genetic Inheritance

Siddhartha Mukherjee · Theodora Ross

Aug 2016 · Ascent Audio · Narrated by Marguerite Gavin

About this audiobook

Oncologist and cancer gene hunter Theo Ross delivers the first authoritative, go-to for people facing a genetic predisposition for cancer There are 13 million people with cancer in the United States, and it's estimated that about 1.3 million of these cases are hereditary. Yet despite advanced training in cancer genetics and years of practicing medicine, Dr. Theo Ross was never certain whether the history of cancers in her family was simple bad luck or a sign that they were carriers of a cancer-causing genetic mutation. Then she was diagnosed with melanoma, and for someone with a dark complexion, melanoma made no sense. It turned out there was a genetic factor at work. Using her own family's story, the latest science of cancer genetics, and her experience as a practicing physician, Ross shows listeners how to spot the patterns of inherited cancer, how to get tested for cancer-causing genes, and what to do if you have one. With a foreword by Siddartha Mukherjee, prize winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies, this will be the first authoritative, go-to for people facing inherited cancer, this book empowers listeners to face their genetic heritage without fear and to make decisions that will keep them and their families healthy.

About the author

Siddhartha Mukherjee was born in 1970 in New Delhi, India. He received an undergraduate degree in biology from Stanford University, a DPhil in immunology from Magdalen College, Oxford University, and a M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He is known for his work on the formation of blood, and the interactions between the micro-environment and cancer cells. His book, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in general non-fiction. He is an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University and a staff physician at Columbia University Medical Center. His articles have appeared in Nature, The New England Journal of Medicine, The New York Times, and The New Republic.