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Book Summary and Reviews of The End of the Beginning by Michael Kinch

The End of the Beginning by Michael Kinch

The End of the Beginning

Cancer, Immunity, and the Future of a Cure

by Michael Kinch

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  • Published:
  • Apr 2019, 320 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

A fascinating history of our understanding and the treatment of cancer by one of the leading figures in the field - who is also a pioneer on the cusp of a breakthrough.

For the first time since a 5th century Greek physician gave the name "cancer" (karkinos, in Greek) to a deadly disease first described in Egyptian Papyri, the medical world is near a breakthrough that could allow even the most conservative doctors and pragmatic patients to use the other "c word" – cure – in the same sentence as cancer. A remarkable series of events has brought us to this point, thanks in large part to a new ability to more efficiently harness the extraordinary power of the human immune.

The End of the Beginning is a remarkable history of cancer treatment and the evolution of our understanding of its dynamic interplay with the immune system. Through Michael Kinch's personal experience as a cancer researcher at Washington University and the head of the oncology program at a leading biotechnology company, we witness the incredible accumulation of breakthrough science and its rapid translation into life-saving technologies that have begun to dramatically increase the quality and quantity of life for cancer patients. 

Expanding upon Kinch's own remarkable projects to encompass the vaccines being deployed to eliminate cervical cancer, the development of cancer-specific "smart bombs" in the form of  monoclonal antibodies, cellular therapies, and checkpoint inhibitors - The End of the Beginning reveals the incredible transformation of cancer treatment happening today. Kinch details the remarkable history of people, science, technology and disease and presents thrilling next-generation technologies that hold the promise to eliminate cancer for some, and perhaps ultimately, for all.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. As the title suggests, scientists have reached only the end of the beginning, but the beginning of the end of cancer is on the horizon, and Kinch's intensely researched, definitely not dumbed down and lucid account makes this superbly clear." - Kirkus

"Readers may wish Kinch had given more time to this story but they will still gain from his thoughtful book an improved understanding of the 'promises and perils' involved in finding a cure for cancer." - Publishers Weekly

This information about The End of the Beginning was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Michael Kinch

Michael Kinch is a professor and vice chancellor at Washington University in St. Louis and the author of A Prescription for Change. Previously, he was a professor at Purdue University and a founder of the oncology program at the biotechnology company MedImmune.

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