Documentary About Cancer Planned

A documentary based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Emperor of All Maladies will bring together heavy hitters in the entertainment and cancer fields. Filmmaker Ken Burns and author Siddhartha Mukherjee are teaming up with Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) to create “Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies,” a three-part, six-hour film. The series is expected to air in spring 2015. SU2C and production partner WETA-TV in Washington, D.C., will work with several organizations, including the American Cancer Society and American Association for Cancer Research, on an education and outreach program leading up to the series premiere.

Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller gave birth to her daughter, Sterling Diane, on June 25. Miller says she was able to conceive naturally following her treatment for ovarian cancer in 2011.

Three-time All-Star and former Philadelphia Phillies catcher Darren Daulton received a diagnosis of glioblastoma after doctors discovered two brain tumors. Four other former Phillies players have developed brain cancer, all of whom have since died of the disease.

Teen Talia Castellano, who became a YouTube sensation with her makeup videos and subsequently an honorary CoverGirl on a visit to The Ellen Show, died on July 16. She had received a diagnosis of neuroblastoma at age 7 and pre-leukemia in August 2012. Friends, fans and family of Talia are honoring her memory by completing items on the 13-year-old’s bucket list.

The breast cancer advocacy movement lost two leaders recently: Barbara Brenner, 61, who became the first executive director of Breast Cancer Action in 1995 and led the group until 2010, died at home of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in May; and Cynthia Lufkin, 51, who died in June of complications related to breast and lung cancer. Lufkin served as co-chairwoman of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.