Marley’s American oncologists
told him there was nothing they
could do to prolong his life, and
like many other patients, before
and since, he looked outside
the country for hope. He flew to
Bavaria in Germany, where he
sought treatment from Josef
Issels, a physician who claimed
his special treatment could put
advanced metastatic disease
into remission. (The American
Cancer Society discredited the
Issels Treatment in 1972, but it
continues to be sought out by
people worldwide even today.)
Marley spent five months at the
clinic, but his condition continued
to deteriorate. Ultimately, Steckles
says, Issels told Marley’s family
there was nothing else he could
offer. Marley flew to his mother’s
house in Miami. He was too weak
to travel any further. He died on
May 11, 1981, at age 36, at Cedars
of Lebanon. A few days later, his
body arrived home, in Jamaica.
oPPoSI TE PAGE: AP PHo To / CoLLIN REID; THIS PAGE: © DAVID BURNE T T / CoN TAC T PRESS IMAGES
A SURGICAL ADVANCE
As when Marley was diagnosed,
surgery remains an important
treatment for melanoma, but
in this area there has been one
significant advance. “The biggest
change in surgical management
of melanoma, bar none,” says
Sondak, “was the move from
complete lymph-node dissection to
sentinel-node biopsy.”
The sentinel-node technique
was introduced in the early 1990s,
and it is now the standard of care
for staging and treating patients
with localized melanoma who
are at significant risk of having
metastasis to their lymph nodes. It
capitalizes on the knowledge that
cancer typically spreads to the
lymphatic system by first moving
through one or two “sentinel”
nodes. These are the nodes that
the tumor drains into, so they are
the first place cancer cells would
appear in the lymphatic system.
This means a surgeon needs to
remove and test only these nodes
to determine if cancer has spread.
Prior to the introduction of
this technique, surgeons had two
choices: Remove all of the nodes
or, if the nodes did not appear
swollen, leave them in and closely
monitor the patient. (In Marley’s
case, if he had agreed to have
surgery, this might have meant
removing all of the lymph nodes
in his groin.) Sentinel-node biopsy
has decreased the side effects,
CR | Page No. 33 | www.CRmagazine.org
Bob Marley’s band the Wailers got
its start at his Kingston, Jamaica,
home (opposite page).
