The Documentary 'Surviving Terminal Cancer'

A privately funded, patient-led documentary, Surviving Terminal Cancer (Waking Giant Productions) examines oncology research and the extraordinary story of Ben Williams, Ph.D., professor emeritus of experimental psychology at University of California in San Diego who at age 50 was diagnosed in March 1995 with glioblastoma multiforme, a usually fatal form of brain cancer; Williams survived and appears in the film, the trailer for which is below. (Williams is the author of Surviving Terminal Cancer: Clinical Trials, Drug Cocktails, and Other Treatments Your Oncologist Won't Tel You About. See updates.)

Following its premieres this month at BFI SouthBank in London (held February 4) and Lincoln Center in New York City (scheduled for February 18), the entire film will be accessible at no cost (check the film's Website after February 18), so that all cancer patients and their families may access the information provided. 

An international collaborative initiative involving the filmmakers, newly diagnosed patients, oncologists, and charities, including The Brain Tumour Charity, which is providing financing and marketing for the film, is seeking to launch a clinical trial investigation of a "multiple agent" or "cocktail" approach to oncology, similar to efforts that have helped make long-term survival possible for persons with AIDS. (Donations to the trial may be made, once the entire film is available, to The Brain Tumour Charity.)

Translations of the documentary, into French, Italian, Greek, Spanish, Hebrew, and Mandarin, are underway. Volunteers who wish to help translate the film into other languages should use the Communicate link on the film's Website.

A number of cancer-related information resources are provided at the Learn link.

I dedicate this post to my friend, the late artist Tracey Clarke, who died of stage 4 brain cancer (glioblastoma) on December 29, 2013, and to her husband and family, who never gave up hope.

(My thanks to Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure, from which I learned of this documentary.)