Married Houston Doctors’ New Anticancer Book Draws Major Praise, Provides Vital Insights

Once considered the elephant in the room (remember “the big C” euphemism), cancer, or rather the prevention thereof,  was the cri de coeur among the well-heeled clutch that mingled over wine and hors d’oeuvres in Tony’s Sam Remo Room on a recent evening. The occasion was a book signing for M.D. Anderson Cancer Center specialists Alison Jefferies, M.Ed, and Lorenzo Cohen, PhD, whose Anticancer Living has received high praise from an impressive collection of top doctors.

Dr. Deepak Chopra, Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Andrew Weil each provided cover endorsements. “Anticancer Living will empower millions of people with information they can use to reduce their risk of getting cancer,” Ornish writes, “and improve their chances of surviving a cancer diagnosis.”

On this night, interest in the book was high as guests, a number of them cancer survivors, snatched up copies for themselves, friends and family. The cocktail reception was organized by philanthropist and influencer Regina Rogers, who tapped a powerful collection of Houstonians to join her in hosting the evening — Barbara and Gerald Hines, Estela and David Cockrell, Dr. Yvonne and Rufus Cormier, Jan Duncan, and Lois and George Stark.

In brief remarks, the married duo — Jefferies, a former president of M.D. Anderson’s Cancer Center Faculty and Family Organization, and Cohen, professor and director of the Integrative Medicine Program at M.D. Anderson —  introduced their thesis on the “mix of six,” areas of our lives that affect cancer diagnoses and outcomes. Those include diet, stress levels and exercise, lifestyle components that research has found impact the likelihood of developing cancer and cancer survival. As Cohen noted of their extensive research, the book contains more than 1,400 scientific references in the bibliography.

Anticancer Living ($28) was published by Viking in May of 2018.

PC Seen: Linda Gale White, Rachel and Dr. Bud Frazier, Beth Wolff, Roslyn Bazzelle, Susie and Larry Johnson, U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas, Jo and Jim Furr, Ginger Blanton, Dr. Peggy Smith, Lilly and Thurmon Andress, Nancy Marcus Golden, Joyce Brass, Linda and Alexander Rogers, Grace Kim, Sara Cronin, Emily Crosswell, Lacy Baird, Sherry Menger, and Becky and Bubba Cooke.