The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee.
The author is an oncologist who mixes in case reports of his patients with historical notes about the diagnosis and treatment of cancer through the ages. Herodotus mentions Atossa, the Queen of Persia, who had her breast cut off because of a tumor - and this was back in 500 BC or thereabouts. Then in the 19th century, "weisses blut" ("white blood" or leukemia) was described. Mukherjee talks about the "Jimmy Fund" in Boston and how the original "Jimmy" (Einar Gustafson) was still alive at the time of writing - one of the few kids who survived leukemia.
From early treatments of surgery, primitive chemotherapy, and burning radiation, to today's more-targeted therapies of receptor antibodies and hormone therapy, the history of cancer is described. Fascinating reading.
