Medicine: Frontal Attack

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Even as hospitals go, Manhattan's famed Memorial Hospital is not a light-hearted place. Its corridors never echo with the happy sounds of a maternity ward. No one is there because of minor ailments or for a good rest. Most of the patients know that their chances of recovery, though somewhat better every year, are poor indeed. Visitors passing through the lobby often look stunned by grief. Memorial is a tragic place because its patients are victims of cancer.

Room 1O2L, a short walk down an immaculate corridor, is one of the most...