The First Cell: And the Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last

by Azra Raza@AzraRazaMD

With the fascinating scholarship of The Emperor of All Maladies and the deeply personal experience of When Breath Becomes Air, a world-class oncologist examines the current state of cancer and its devastating impact on the individuals it affects — including herself.

In The First Cell, Azra Raza offers a searing account of how both medicine and our society (mis)treats cancer, how we can do better, and why we must. A lyrical journey from hope to despair and back again, The First Cell explores cancer from every angle: medical, scientific, cultural, and personal. Indeed, Raza describes how she bore the terrible burden of being her own husband’s oncologist as he succumbed to leukemia. Like When Breath Becomes Air, The First Cell is no ordinary book of medicine, but a book of wisdom and grace by an author who has devoted her life to making the unbearable easier to bear.

Interview with the Author

EconTalk 
Azra Raza on The First Cell
3/23/20          85 min

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The Peter Attia Drive 
#121 – Azra Raza, M.D.: Why we’re losing the war on cancer
7/27/20               105 min

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Q&A 
Dr. Azra Raza, “The First Cell”
12/15/19            60 min

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Sean Carroll’s Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas
77 | Azra Raza on The Way We Should Fight Cancer
12/16/19           82 min

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Inquiring Minds 
We might be approaching the study of cancer all wrong
12/23/19             50 min

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The Inquiring Mind Podcast 
1. The First Cell with Azra Raza
3/19/21             68 min

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