Finding an Achilles Heel's primary photo

Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies

Finding an Achilles Heel (Season 1, Episode 3)
TV-14
TV Episode | 113 min | Documentary
This episode starts at a moment of optimism: Scientists believe they have cracked the mystery of the malignant cell, and the first targeted therapies have been developed. But very quickly cancer reveals new layers of complexity and a ...See moreThis episode starts at a moment of optimism: Scientists believe they have cracked the mystery of the malignant cell, and the first targeted therapies have been developed. But very quickly cancer reveals new layers of complexity and a formidable array of defenses. Many call for a new focus on prevention and early detection as the most promising fronts in the war on cancer. By the second decade of the 2000s, the bewildering complexity of the cancer cell yields to a more ordered picture, revealing new vulnerabilities and avenues of attack. Perhaps most exciting is the prospect of harnessing the human immune system to defeat cancer. A 60-year-old NASCAR mechanic with melanoma and a six-year-old with leukemia are pioneers in new immunotherapy treatments, which the documentary follows as their stories unfold. See less
Read more: Plot summary
Writers
Geoffrey C. Ward (written by) | Ken Burns (written by) | Barak Goodman (written by) | David Blitstein (written by)
Cinematographers
Robert Hanna | Stephen McCarthy | Sam Russell (as Samuel Z. Russell)
Editor
Nancy Novack
See all filmmakers & crew (111)
Status
Edit Released
Updated Apr 1, 2015
Release date
Apr 1, 2015 (United States)
Awards
Series awards
Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy Award.

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1 cast member
Name Known for
Edward Herrmann's primary photo
Edward Herrmann
Narrator (voice) Narrator (voice)   See fewer
Overboard (1987)
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