Even before we watched this movie in class, I’ve already heard about this story through my aunt’s friend, who is a breast cancer survivor. In the course of her treatment, she was reading the book version of this and shared that she learned a lot from this book regarding her illness and all the obstacles one has to face in order for a treatment to be approved. The movie is basically about a UCLA oncologist and researcher Dr. Dennis Slamon, creator of the promising breast cancer drug Herceptin. According to Dr. Slamon, this drug could effectively switch off cancer cells for women with tumors of the Her-2+ (Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2-positive) without radiation treatment. In 1998, the FDA finally approved the use of Herceptin to
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First scene that had an impact on me is when Dr. Slamon was close to giving up and doubted himself whether he can still continue with his research. But with the help of his family, friends and colleagues, he was able to continue with his research. This scene affected me because there are times wherein I doubted myself and was close to giving up on my dreams or goals. For an instance, before, there were times I think that I’m not competent enough in terms of academics and I doubted myself whether I’m capable of entering med school. But with the help and words of encouragement of my family and friends, I was able to get back on track and focus on my goal in being a doctor. The second scene that had an impact on me is when the film becomes very emotional as he finally wins approval to begin testing on women in stage IV breast cancer-those that are considered without hope from any approved treatments. Because of the extremely tight restrictions put in place by Genentech, he must exclude some women who are desperate for any hope of a cure. Even more heart wrenching are those who are helped in the Phase I testing but are not allowed to move to Phase II because of the Genentech restrictions. He also discovers that it helps some but not others which is powerfully visualized in a scene where the treatment room is shown full of the test patients that started and one by one those who have died disappear. The scene is a testimony to the belief and perseverance of one man who was determined to make a difference against great odds. This scene made an impact on me because my group and I had somewhat the same experience with Dr. Slamon in terms of not being able to let everybody join in our research due to our inclusion and exlusion criteria. And it was hard for us to break it to some respondents that they can’t join, especially those who are interested. Third scene that had an impact on me is the last scene wherein the
First scene that had an impact on me is when Dr. Slamon was close to giving up and doubted himself whether he can still continue with his research. But with the help of his family, friends and colleagues, he was able to continue with his research. This scene affected me because there are times wherein I doubted myself and was close to giving up on my dreams or goals. For an instance, before, there were times I think that I’m not competent enough in terms of academics and I doubted myself whether I’m capable of entering med school. But with the help and words of encouragement of my family and friends, I was able to get back on track and focus on my goal in being a doctor. The second scene that had an impact on me is when the film becomes very emotional as he finally wins approval to begin testing on women in stage IV breast cancer-those that are considered without hope from any approved treatments. Because of the extremely tight restrictions put in place by Genentech, he must exclude some women who are desperate for any hope of a cure. Even more heart wrenching are those who are helped in the Phase I testing but are not allowed to move to Phase II because of the Genentech restrictions. He also discovers that it helps some but not others which is powerfully visualized in a scene where the treatment room is shown full of the test patients that started and one by one those who have died disappear. The scene is a testimony to the belief and perseverance of one man who was determined to make a difference against great odds. This scene made an impact on me because my group and I had somewhat the same experience with Dr. Slamon in terms of not being able to let everybody join in our research due to our inclusion and exlusion criteria. And it was hard for us to break it to some respondents that they can’t join, especially those who are interested. Third scene that had an impact on me is the last scene wherein the