''Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies'' is a 2015 American

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

produced and directed by Barak Goodman and executive produced by

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV or the Nati ...

. The film, in three episodes of two hours each, is based on the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

–winning 2010 book '' The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer'', by

Siddhartha Mukherjee Siddhartha Mukherjee ( Bengali: সিদ্ধার্থ মুখার্জী; born 21 July 1970) is an Indian-American physician, biologist, and author. He is best known for his 2010 book, '' The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of ...

, and describes the history of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

and cancer treatments, particularly in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The film is narrated by Edward Herrmann, who was himself suffering from terminal brain cancer at the time of its production. He died on December 31, 2014, three months before the film's release, making the series his final performance.

Episodes

Participants

The documentary film is narrated by Edward Herrmann, and includes the following participants: * Dr. Arnold Levine * Sherwin Nuland * James P. Allison, episode 3 * Dr. Bernard Fisher * Emil J. Freireich * Carl June * Howard Markel * Dr. Donald Pinkel * Dr. Eric Lander * Dr. James Holland * Dr. Jimmie Holland * Dr. Jose Baselga * Charles Sawyers * Dr. Lori Wilson * Dr. Robert Weinberg * John Bailar * Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee * Dr. Sidney Farber * Dr. Susan Love * Dr. Suzanne Cole * Dr. Todd Golub * Dr. Vincent DeVita * Edward R. Murrow * Jerome Groopman *

Mary Lasker Mary Woodard Lasker (November 30, 1900February 21, 1994) was an American health activist and philanthropist. She worked to raise funds for medical research and founded the Lasker Foundation. Early life Mary Woodard was born in Watertown, Wisco ...

Gallery

Image:Nci-vol-8226-300 bernard fisher.jpg, Dr. Bernard Fisher Image:Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee 2011.jpg, Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee Image:Sidney Farber nci-vol-1926-300.jpg, Dr. Sidney Farber Image:Dr. Susan Love.jpg, Dr. Susan Love Image:Mary Lasker.jpg,

Critical response

According to a review in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', the film is "the single most personally relevant documentary of this or any year". According to a review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', the series is "absorbing", is "structured as an ever-evolving medical detective story, but the filmmakers give it heart as well by juxtaposing the history lessons with present-day personal profiles of cancer patients", seems perhaps "too much like a promotional video for cancer researchers and hospitals", and "touches only briefly on the significant issue of costs" but "achieves its main goal, which is to show the human impact of cancer."

References

External links