A Fatal Inheritance
How a Family Misfortune Revealed a Deadly Medical Mystery
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4.6 • 9 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Nonfiction
Named a best book of the year by Amazon, NPR, and Kirkus
Weaving his own moving family story with a sweeping history of cancer research, Lawrence Ingrassia delivers an intimate, gripping tale that sits at the intersection of memoir and medical thriller
Ingrassia lost his mother, two sisters, brother, and nephew to cancer—different cancers developing at different points throughout their lives. And while highly unusual, his family is not the only one to wonder whether their heartbreak is the result of unbelievable bad luck, or if there might be another explanation.
Through meticulous research and riveting storytelling, Ingrassia takes us from the 1960s—when Dr. Frederick Pei Li and Dr. Joseph Fraumeni Jr. first met, not yet knowing that they would help make a groundbreaking discovery that would affect cancer patients for decades to come—to present day, as Ingrassia and countless others continue to unpack and build upon Li and Fraumeni’s initial discoveries, and to understand what this means for their families.
In the face of seemingly unbearable loss, Ingrassia holds onto hope. He urges us to “fight like Charlie,” his nephew who battled cancer his entire life starting with a rare tumor in his cheek at the age of two—and to look toward the future, as gene sequencing, screening protocols, CRISPR gene editing, and other developing technologies may continue to extend lifespans and perhaps, one day, even offer cures.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The discovery of a fatal inheritable cancer is recapped in this arresting account from journalist Ingrassia (Billion Dollar Brand Club), whose family suffers from the disease. Through interviews with other affected families, Ingrassia emphasizes the extreme devastation wrought by Li-Fraumeni syndrome, which has a 50% chance of being passed down from parent to child ("These families... are extremely fatalistic, particularly the older people who have so many relatives," explains one doctor; Ingrassia notes that many gene carriers die as children, compounding the families' trauma). He pairs these harrowing accounts with a riveting scientific detective story. Through the 1960s, scientists believed all cancers were viral or environmental, but in 1969, two cancer researchers, Frederick Li and Joseph Fraumeni, compiled medical charts and death certificates of children diagnosed with a rare cancer, rhabdomyosarcoma, and were shocked to find many were related. Li and Fraumeni tracked the children's families for 20 years, over which time 40 of the 57 family members were diagnosed with 52 different cancers. In 1990, the gene mutation that causes LFS was identified, kicking off a hunt for more genetically caused cancers; however, researchers have yet to develop successful treatments for LFS. Ingrassia's account is at its most wrenching when he recalls his own loss—all three of his siblings have succumbed to the disease. It's an evocative look at a pivotal episode in the history of cancer research. Correction: A previous version of this review incorrectly stated that the gene mutation that causes LFS was identified in 1979.
