Cuomo deals effectively with prevention by citing many of the environmental precautions, as well as consumer product safety measures that can be taken to reduce the incidence of cancer. According to Cuomo, cancer could be reduced by 50% just by making the environment cancer-proof. High on the list of the carcinogens is tobacco.
Physiologically, cancer takes hold when healthy cells are damaged. At bottom, the disease is a genetic mutation along a base in a double helix within the molecular DNA structure of cells.
The book explains the key symptoms of cancer in the body. Classic symptoms are uncontrolled fatigue, shortness of breath, chronic blood in the urine or stools, and hardened lumps which typify lymphomas developing at various stages.
Inflammation is another early marker of a budding cancer because the disease causes hardened plaque throughout a many areas in the body. There are a number of blood markers which provide clues to cancer including the white cell count and the C-reactive protein.
The author believes that scientists should focus on an interdisciplinary approach to cancer which emphasizes what is known in medicine and the allied sciences like chemistry and biology. Good data management is another important aspect to track successful treatment protocols with patients. Good control group design is another vital step to identify drugs and dietary changes which help to combat the disease.
Cuomo is not happy with the triangle of treatment options for cancer like surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. The author satirizes these options as "cut, poison, and burn." Cuomo finds fault with the current treatment protocols because they are toxic, expensive, and often minimally helpful over the longer term.
A World Without Cancer by Margaret Cuomo is an excellent patient resource for people who have cancer, as well as an outstanding resource for readers seeking the best strategies to prevent cancer.