This is an older title, at least in terms of medical research: originally published in the US in 2008 and then revised in 2010. It was written by a French professor of clinical psychology who was diagnosed with brain cancer when he was in his early 30s. After a recurrence, he gradually built up a bank of research-based and anecdotal knowledge on ways people with cancer can improve their chances of survival, including through their diet, exercise, environment, stress levels, and mental health. This book is a memoir of his experiences combined with his recommendations for living an anticancer life, along with copious footnotes pointing to the research studies that back up the lifestyle. Sadly, while Dr. Servan Schreiber survived for 19 years after his initial diagnosis; he passed away in 2011.

Honestly, I was a little skeptical of this book when I jumped into it. There is a lot of information out there about lifestyle changes you can take to prevent cancer from recurring, or to prevent you from getting cancer in the first place. When you are living with metastatic cancer, though, that kind of advice can feel accusatory (like, “you wouldn’t have cancer if you had just done these things!”) or like it came too late, since the cancer has already spread. Other times, this kind of instruction can feel either too general (eat healthy and exercise is pretty good advice for everyone for all kinds of reasons) or like a snake oil pitch to get you to buy some supplements or a diet plan. Dr. Servan-Schreiber’s angle is that many things in our modern Western lifestyle and environment can cause cells to mutate and cancer to begin to develop, but what we can do is control the terrain of our bodies so that those almost inevitable mutations don’t grow or spread. And, for those of us who already have cancer -- even if it is advanced, metastatic, or incurable -- taking steps to improve the terrain of our bodies can help our traditional cancer treatments work more effectively.

And, you know, I think that makes a lot of sense. Certainly at times I wonder why I got cancer or why it wasn’t found until it was metastatic. Mostly I feel pretty confident that it was out of my control and, as a pragmatic person by nature, that it doesn’t really matter at this point anyway. I remember when I was first diagnosed feeling almost embarrassed and guilty that I hadn’t done something right and that is why I ended up with this diagnosis, but I've learned that while they can make some broad generalizations and name some risk factors, overall doctors don’t really know why some people get cancer and others don’t, and why some cancers spread and others don’t. And, if we take that into account, I think making lifestyle changes like the ones Dr. Servan-Schriber recommends aren’t a ticket to a cure or something that should dominate your life, but they certainly can’t hurt. And if they make us feel better, both because they are letting us have a little agency, but also because eating good food and exercising and mindfulness and stress reduction are all good things for helping us to enjoy life, then why not dip in and give some of this a try?

Any medical advice that is 10 years old needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but this was a very readable and thought-provoking book and one that I’m glad I read. It also contains one of the most helpful lay-person explanations of how cancer starts, grows, and spreads that I have read so far. Not too technical, but not too elementary either. Honestly, the book is worth reading just for that!