The Cancer-Industrial Complex: a Book Launch and Conversation with Nafis Hasan

Fifty years after the declaration of the “war on Cancer,” we are hardly closer to producing a cure. This, despite the billions that have been raised and spent by countless corporations, foundations, universities, and governmental bodies. Yet, as BISR faculty and cancer researcher Nafis Hasan argues in his new book Metastasis: The Rise of the Cancer-Industrial Complex and the Horizons of Care (Common Notions), it’s the very existence of the “cancer-industrial complex”—the lucrative symbiosis of the private, non-profit, and state sectors—that has misshaped our understanding of cancer and impeded the development of a cure. While vested interests profit, cancer patients suffer. How can we understand the political economy of cancer, and what can be done to reorient our efforts, prioritize care, and make actual progress in the (thus far inexorable) war on cancer? 

Join us, Thursday, February 27th, as we take the occasion of the publication of Metastasis to examine, with Nafis and fellow BISR faculty, the contours of “Cancer Capitalism” and the mis-incentives that distort both how we understand cancer and how we treat it. What is the cancer-industrial complex? Why, for all the billions it generates, has it failed to produce a cure? Why are certain carcinogenic theories (mutational) favored over others (environmental)—and who benefits? What are the alternatives? What would it mean to dismantle the cancer-industrial complex? What systems of knowledge and care can we erect in its place?

The event is free to attend, with a suggested $8 donation. Beer, wine, seltzer, and snacks will be served. Please RSVP below.

Event Schedule

Thursday, 7:00pm ET
February 27, 2025

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