Dr. Gerson (1881-1959), who developed the Gerson Therapy, explains how the treatment reactivates the body's healing mechanisms in chronic degenerative diseases. The book incorporates extensive explanation of the theory with scientific research and the exact practice of the therapy, as well as a presentation of fifty documented case histories. Extensive information on diet and nutrition is provided, as well as a full list of forbidden and permitted foods. Gerson's cancer therapy is based on cleaning the body of toxin's whilst nourishing it fresh organic juices. The basic assumption is that disease comes from an accumulation of inorganic toxic waste in weakened area's of the body, which cause an environment for disease to proliferate.

For 20 years in New York he treated hundreds of cancer patients who had been given up to die after failing all conventional treatments. In 1946, Gerson demonstrated recovered cancer patients before the Pepper-Neely Congressional Sub-Committee, during hearings on S. 1875, a bill to authorize the President to wage war on cancer. Although only a few peer reviewed journals were receptive to his revolutionary ideas Gerson continued to publish in the U.S. and abroad. In 1958, after 30 years of clinical experimentation, Gerson published A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases. This medical monograph details the theories, the treatment, and the results achieved by a great physician.