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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Cole believed that these theories may have been right when?

2. Who led tests on intensive chemotherapy by using 4 drugs referred to as MOPP?

3. Cancer returned to the media spotlight in every way, particularly through _______________.

4. What is counting?

5. Mukherjee begins to discuss the age of cancer, referring to the ancient discoveries of ___________ in 2625 B.C.

Short Essay Questions

1. What is meant by the "smiling oncologist?"

2. Why did breast cancer clinical trials last ten years? How could these trials have been run better?

3. How did Virchow stumble upon cancer?

4. Who is Ben Orman? How is he significant to the study of cancer?

5. Describe Farber's society. How was it successful?

6. How was this letter to Richard Nixon significant at the time?

7. What is VAMP? What about this might have surprised Zubrod?

8. Describe Bennett's patient. How was John Bennett's diagnosis logical?

9. How was the chemotherapy ward a battle ground in the 1970s?

10. What symptoms led to Carla Reed learning she had leukemia?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"Farber's Gauntlet" details the story of Robert Sandler.

Part 1) Who was Robert Sandler? How is his story important? How is it connected to the study of cancer and disease?

Part 2) Why is importance placed on this case? What does this say about the fight against cancer? Is this same mentality seen regarding other diseases? Why or why not?

Part 3) Would doctors today see Robert Sandler's case as some sort of success, if he was a patient today? Why or why not? What does this say about cancer research today?

Essay Topic 2

Mukherjee discusses the history of cancer.

Part 1) When was the finding and study of cancer first seen? How is this surprising? Why might knowledge and/or discussion of cancer stopped after this period of time? Did cancer still exist? Why or why not?

Part 2) What are two other times in history when the study of cancer took place? What did doctors and scientists know about cancer at that time? On what information was this knowledge based? How accurate was this knowledge?

Part 3) What is known about cancer today? How much of our knowledge today is based on previous knowledge? How important is cancer history to the study of cancer today? Why? How is history, in general, important to us today?

Essay Topic 3

Carla Reed was a thirty year old kindergarten teacher who had leukemia.

Part 1) What were her symptoms? Why did it take so long to determine that she had leukemia? How did this lead to her meeting Siddhartha Mukherjee?

Part 2) Describe Mukherjee's experiences with Carla. How was she treated for leukemia? What were the results of her treatment? Why was she such an important part of this book? What purpose did her story serve throughout this book?

Part 3) How did Carla's story affect you? What do you now know about cancer and/or leukemia that you did not know prior to hearing Carla's story? How does this affect your opinion of those who suffer from cancer?

(see the answer keys)

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