Editor’s Note: David Servan-Schreiber died in July 2011 at the age of 50 — one year after his cancer returned and he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. According to the Los Angeles Times, when his cancer returned, he said: “Death is part of life. It happens to everyone. Profit from now, do the important things. I
am convinced that ‘Anticancer’ has played an important role in the fact
that I survived cancer for 19 years when the first diagnosis gave me
only six at the most.”

The following interview was conducted in March 2010, before his final cancer diagnosis.

David Servan-Schreiber, M.D., was just 31 years old when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. He was not prepared for what he experienced as a patient.

He vowed if he survived he would do whatever he could to change not just the patient experience, but the treatment procedures as well. And that’s exactly what he’s done.

He’s found that the best way to fight cancer is to eliminate the conditions that allow it to take hold before it has the chance. He calls it the Anticancer. He’s studied what makes cancer cells thrive and what inhibits them, why our state of mind affects our ability to fight disease, how to reap the benefits of exercise, how to minimize environmental toxins and how to find the right blend of traditional and alternative medicine.

Dr. Servan-Schreiber is considered one of the leading thinkers with one of the most fascinating approaches in his field, and his book, “The Anticancer: A New Way of Life,” quickly became a New York Times bestseller.