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Dr. Robin Cook writes medical thrillers centered on a timely issue (or two). This novel, from 1982, centers on industrial pollution and leukemia (cancer clusters?)
The main character, Dr. Charles Martel, is a cancer-researcher. His 12-year-old daughter, Michelle, is diagnosed with myeloblastic leukemia. This sets up two conflicts for Dr. Martel:
1. Dr. Martel vs. Recycle, Inc.: It soon becomes apparent that Michelle succumbed to leukemia because a nearby company, Recycle Inc., is dumping carcinogen benzene in a stream near the Martel home. This leads Dr. Martel to try to stealthily document the company's illegal dumping--and find a government agency with the inclination to do something about it.
2. Dr. Martle vs. Michelle's Oncologists: How should Michelle's cancer be treated? Her doctors opt for the old-school treatment, aggressive chemotherapy. But Michelle doesn't improve. This leads Dr. Martel to object to the chemotherapy and insist upon an experimental treatment, which involves teaching Michelle's immune system to recognize, and attack, the cancer cells. (Cook's idea is somewhat like the idea presented by cancer-researcher Dr. Steven Rosenberg, in his nonfiction book, The Transformed Cell.) Dr. Martel offers an explanation on pages 221-223:
The main character, Dr. Charles Martel, is a cancer-researcher. His 12-year-old daughter, Michelle, is diagnosed with myeloblastic leukemia. This sets up two conflicts for Dr. Martel:
1. Dr. Martel vs. Recycle, Inc.: It soon becomes apparent that Michelle succumbed to leukemia because a nearby company, Recycle Inc., is dumping carcinogen benzene in a stream near the Martel home. This leads Dr. Martel to try to stealthily document the company's illegal dumping--and find a government agency with the inclination to do something about it.
2. Dr. Martle vs. Michelle's Oncologists: How should Michelle's cancer be treated? Her doctors opt for the old-school treatment, aggressive chemotherapy. But Michelle doesn't improve. This leads Dr. Martel to object to the chemotherapy and insist upon an experimental treatment, which involves teaching Michelle's immune system to recognize, and attack, the cancer cells. (Cook's idea is somewhat like the idea presented by cancer-researcher Dr. Steven Rosenberg, in his nonfiction book, The Transformed Cell.) Dr. Martel offers an explanation on pages 221-223:
"[C]ancer research has been my life for the last nine years, and I think there's a chance I can do something...
"First of all my research has advanced to the point where I can take a cancerous cell from an organism and isolate a protein, or what is called an antigen, on its surface, which makes that cell different from all the other cells. That, in itself, is a major advance. My problem
then was getting the organism's immune system to react to the protein and therefore rid itself of the abnormal cancerous cells....
"[T]hen I got the idea to inject the isolated surface antigen into well animals to make them immune to it....[T]hen inject
"First of all my research has advanced to the point where I can take a cancerous cell from an organism and isolate a protein, or what is called an antigen, on its surface, which makes that cell different from all the other cells. That, in itself, is a major advance. My problem
then was getting the organism's immune system to react to the protein and therefore rid itself of the abnormal cancerous cells....
"[T]hen I got the idea to inject the isolated surface antigen into well animals to make them immune to it....[T]hen inject
[that animal's] antibodies into Michelle."
An intriguing idea.
In sum, Dr. Cook's book is readable and interesting. (In terms of plot, it invites comparison to Cook's later novel, Toxin, where a doctor's daughter gets fatal food-poisoning, leading her doctor-father to go on the warpath against the beef industry and health oversight agencies.)
One complaint: I stalled after 200 pages of this book, had to set aside the book for a month, then forced myself to plow through the last 78 pages. Dr. Cook's ideas are intriguing, but his writing style is less fluid than, say, the writing-style of (Dr.) Michael Crichton. (On
this point, contrast Cook's novel Nano with Crichton's own nano-themed thriller, Prey.) But all in all, a good read and thought-provoking book.
An intriguing idea.
In sum, Dr. Cook's book is readable and interesting. (In terms of plot, it invites comparison to Cook's later novel, Toxin, where a doctor's daughter gets fatal food-poisoning, leading her doctor-father to go on the warpath against the beef industry and health oversight agencies.)
One complaint: I stalled after 200 pages of this book, had to set aside the book for a month, then forced myself to plow through the last 78 pages. Dr. Cook's ideas are intriguing, but his writing style is less fluid than, say, the writing-style of (Dr.) Michael Crichton. (On
this point, contrast Cook's novel Nano with Crichton's own nano-themed thriller, Prey.) But all in all, a good read and thought-provoking book.
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