Quotes from David Servan-Schreiber

All research on cancer concurs: Genetic factors contribute to at most 15 percent of mortalities from cancer. In short, there is no genetic fatality. We can all learn to protect ourselves.

At the same time, it is completely unreasonable to rely only on this purely technical approach and neglect the natural capacity of our bodies to protect against tumors. We can take advantage of this natural protection to either prevent the disease or enhance the benefits of treatments.

In these pages I will tell you the story of how I changed from a scientist-researcher, completely ignorant of the body's natural defenses, to a physician who relies above all on these natural mechanisms.

The first part of this book presents a new view of the mechanisms of cancer. This view is based on the fundamental but still little-known workings of the immune system, on the discovery of the inflammatory mechanisms underlying the growth of tumors, and on the possibility of blocking their spread by preventing new blood vessels from nourishing them.

I saw myself like a piece of wood floating down a river, suddenly tossed against the shore, caught in a stagnant pool.

But that night I went to sleep, and the next day I was able to go to work and take the necessary steps to begin to face the disease, and to face my life.

After all, he had spent his life studying and quantifying natural phenomena. If there was one lesson to be learned from that, it was that there is no fixed rule in nature that applies in like manner to everything. Variation is the very essence of nature.

In a domain like oncology, two things are continually changing: conventional treatments and our knowledge of what each of us can do individually to reinforce the effect of these treatments. If the circumstances change, the survival curve changes too.

The lesson that this great biologist teaches us is simple: Statistics are information, not condemnation.

The objective, when you have cancer and want to combat fatality, is to make sure you find yourself in the long tail of the curve.

By participating in certain programs, such as that of the Commonweal Center in California (which we'll discuss later), patients try to take charge of their cancer, to learn to live in greater harmony with their bodies and their past, to seek peace of mind through yoga and meditation, and to choose foods that fight cancer while avoiding those that promote its development.

But that is precisely the point: If patients are better informed about their disease, if they look after body and mind, and if they are given what they need to improve their health, then they can mobilize the body's vital functions to fight cancer. They live better, and for longer.

To say "I love you," Yanomami Indians of the Amazon say, "Ya pihi irakema," meaning "I have been contaminated by your being"—a part of you has entered me, and it lives and grows.

Statistics are information, not condemnation. The objective, when you have cancer and want to combat fatality, is to make sure you find yourself in the long tail of the curve.

Poor mastery of emotions is one of the major causes of obesity in a society where stress is common and food is used abundantly to deal with it. People who have learned to handle stress generally do not have a weight problem. They have learned how to listen to their bodies, identify their feelings, and respond intelligently.

There was nothing wrong with being simply, completely human.

Recent studies show, in fact, that it's not only the love of a husband, a wife, or children that can enable morale to remain strong and slow the progression of illness, but also the simple love and caring attention of friends old and new.

Thus the approach of death can sometimes lead to a kind of liberation. In its shadow, life suddenly takes on an intensity, resonance, and savor we may never have known before.

These recent findings support the notion that "cancer genes" may not be so harmful if not triggered by our unhealthy lifestyle. They behave a little like the irascible ghosts of ancestors, who required regular offerings in order to stay calm. In fact, they may simply be genes who have responded poorly to the transition from our ancestral forms of nutrition, which were perfectly adapted to our organism, to our modern-day industrial, processed diet

Cancer is a disease of the Western lifestyle

Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves. This we know: the earth does not belong to man—man belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood that unites one family. All things are connected.125

But it's obvious," they invariably answered. "If it's an acute illness, like pneumonia or an infarction or appendicitis, you have to see Western doctors. They have fast, effective treatments for crises and accidents. But if it's a chronic disease, then you should see a Tibetan doctor. The treatments take longer to work, but they treat the terrain in depth. In the long term it's the only thing that really works.

Immune cells are also sensitive to our emotions. They react positively to emotional states characterized by a sense of well-being and a feeling that we are connected to those around us. It's as if our immune cells mobilize all the better when they are in the service of a life that is objectively worth living.

still carry with me the lesson he taught me: On the threshold of death, one can still save one's life. That gave me enough confidence to take on the task I had to carry out for myself, to be ready when the time came.