Review of “Cancer Culture” by Jacqueline Acho, PhD

​Score: 95/100 (9.5 out of 10)

This book should anger and upset a lot of people... but not for the reasons you might think.
It should anger and upset you because it points out how a lot of American society and, specifically, our healthcare system are designed to make us sick and keep us sick. A lot of people whose lives could have been saved aren't with us today—let down by what the author calls the “Cancer Industrial Complex.” A lot of people who could have lived much longer lives were given short terminal diagnoses and sent to hospice care to die.

That's extremely upsetting. And you know what makes it even more upsetting? We've been on both sides of this issue and know all about it. Our judges have been healthcare workers, have been patients, and have friends and family members who died from cancer, being told the same things about how “nothing more can be done” for them.

According to this book, the Cancer Industrial Complex, the pharmaceutical industry, modern medicine, and the healthcare industry as a whole is a business—it's own economy. And it's failing us and letting us down day after day after day. It's about time that someone called them out on it!

And who better to call them out than an actual cancer survivor, and not just any cancer survivor. Author Jacqueline Acho actually earned her PhD in Chemistry from MIT! That's no small thing! She's actually a published scientist! You can find dozens of citations linking back to her published research going all the way back to the 1990s. Check that out here: https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Jacqueline-A-Acho-85604460

Anyway, the story goes that in 2021, Acho was given a terminal diagnosis for ovarian cancer and told she only had 2-3 months to live. The typical attempts at chemotherapy were tried before the doctors gave up and recommended her for palliative/hospice care. She want sent there in immense pain and unable to eat.

If that sounds familiar to any of you, then you're probably gritting your teeth and clenching your fist.

Well, Acho didn't listen. She didn't accept and embrace her death sentence. Instead, she took her future, her health, and her life in her own hands and sought alternative care in Istanbul, Turkey. With the many different treatments used and allowed by the Turkish medical system. And guess what? Not only did Acho live long past the 2-3 months she was projected to, she's actually still alive today! And not only that, but she was able to give a commencement speech at a major institution and even got to see her child graduate.

This inspired us immensely and definitely put a smile on our faces.

However, this also filled us with shame as Americans.
WE should have the best hospitals.
WE should have the best treatments.
WE should have the best medicines.
WE should have the best doctors.
But we don't, and it's a darn shame.

You shouldn't have to travel all the way across the world just to get life-changing treatment.
And we say these things with all the sensitivity and empathy in our minds, bodies, and souls: that is simply not right.

This book is a HUGE wake up call.

It's no coincidence that Acho was a bit of a rebel and didn't listen to the doctor who gave her that death sentence. Acho is a rebel, and we love that! We actually had the pleasure of listening an old TedTalk she did (and which she mentioned in the book). In the TedTalk, she talked about the times when she worked for her dad as a child and was fired twice for insubordination. She said something along the lines of “insubordination isn't always a bad thing... insubordination can be another word for innovation.”

Innovation is trying new things and/or doing things differently. This includes life-changing and life-saving treatments, some of which aren't even available or legal in America yet.

Acho makes the argument that America has what it calls a “Gold Standard” of care, which is basically the same routine treatments tried over and over again until they become too expensive. They're unwilling to think outside the box. They're unwilling to try new things. They're stuck in a dogma of what the text books say. And that's an annoyance we share about the medical and scientific communities. They're supposed to be the logical, rationale ones. They're supposed to be the ones seeking solutions and solving problems. They're supposed to be the ones with the answers and facts. They're supposed to be free of biases and dogma. However, they tend to be just as biased and dogmatic as the biggest hyperreligious nutjobs.

Acho shares some biting, scathing quotes that we admired:

“If only cancer science were as brave as cancer patients”

“Research is only as good as the questions you ask”

As people who have financially supported and participated in cancer research, we can tell you how constricted and limited it is. It's 2024. This is AMERICA—the richest, most technologically advanced country in the world. We should be doing so much better.

The author also points out issues that became blatantly obvious to her around the time of the pandemic. The government was willing to declare an emergency and release billions of dollars in funds to solve the crisis and rush out vaccines because the pandemic was devastating the economy. The implication is: that was about money. They were willing to dump all their eggs in the COVID-19 basket because doing so would reopen the country and be of great economic benefit, further enriching pharmaceutical companies. From the author's perspective, it's suspicious that they can't do that for cancer—something which kills far more people and has a much longer history. Why? Well, cancer deaths don't affect the economy the same way. They don't close down cities.

This book actually reminded us a lot of Growth by Karen DeBonis, a book about how a mother sought additional answers and treatments for her long-suffering son after numerous doctors and experts either dismissed him or misdiagnosed him.

Doctors are human beings. They're not magical. They're not infallible. Most of all, they're not always right. Take it from us, we've not only worked with doctors, we've LIVED with doctors. There are times when they say and do stupid stuff like the rest of us.

Anyway, this is a really worthwhile book with a message we can get behind.

Now, this book does start to get kinda sidetracked and weird after a while, especially when it starts reading like an Istanbul tourism guide. However, that really isn't that big of deal. After all, if you do decide to move to Istanbul to receive similar cancer treatments, some of that info might actually come in handy.

Check it out on Amazon!