Living Proof

The Living Proof

The Living Proof is based on a true to life story of a doctor / oncologist named Dr. Dennis Slamon, who developed a drug called Herceptin, an alternative cure for cancer.

"Chemotherapy works on the principle of killing cancer cells, and almost (killing) the patient, with poison," he says, "and just hoping the new cells grow back cancer-free. That doesn't make sense to me."

Slamon's better idea is a "superprotein" that can "target the bad cells and turn them off like a light switch. It won't cure the cancer, but it'll shut it off, which is almost as good." And with no harm to other cells, which means no side effects.

He adds that such a drug could save the lives of many of the 200,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

Source International Herald Tribune

The Movie Plot

The film concerns the true story of Dr. Dennis Slamon (played by Harry Connick, Jr.), who helped develop the breast cancer drug Herceptin. Dr. Slamon is a research doctor at UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles), where he has developed the experimental drug Herceptin, which he believes will become a treatment for breast cancer. However, when the drug company stops funding for research, philanthropists, including Lilly Tartikoff (Angie Harmon) and Ronald Perelman help him continue tests of the drug. Dr. Slamon loses some patients involved in the tests, but ultimately his work with the drug changes the course of breast cancer treatment.

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