A provocative and surprising investigation into the ways that profit, personalities, and politics obstruct real progress in the war on cancer -- and one doctor's passionate call to action.

As a diagnostic radiologist who has watched patients, friends, and family suffer with and die from cancer -- and who was deeply affected by the enraged husband of one particular patient -- Dr. Margaret I. Cuomo has been inspired to seek out new strategies for waging a smarter war on cancer.

About 1.6 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed a year, and more than 1,500 people die each day. We've been asked to accept the disappointing strategy to ''manage cancer as a chronic disease.'' We've allowed pharmaceutical companies to position as breakthroughs cancer drugs that extend life by mere weeks and may cost $100,000 for a single course of treatment. Where is the bold leadership that will transform our system from treatment to prevention? Have we forgotten the mission of the National Cancer Act of 1971 to ''conquer cancer?''

Through an analysis of more than forty years of medical evidence and interviews with the top cancer researchers, drug company executives, and health policy advisers, Dr. Cuomo reveals the intriguing answers to these questions. She shows us how all cancer stakeholders -- the pharmaceutical industry, the government, physicians, and concerned citizens -- can change the way we view and fight cancer in this country.