Steve Jobs chose non-surgery cancer treatments

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NEW YORK, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Steve Jobs put off surgery for cancer, instead relying on alternative treatments including exotic diets, herbal remedies and acupuncture, a biography says.

The New York Times reports the 630-page biography, "Steve Jobs," by Walter Isaacson, says Jobs' decision to put off surgery in favor of alternative treatments after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in October 2003 angered his family, friends and physicians.

Jobs also turned to a rare treatment option, becoming one of 20 people in the world to have all the genes of his cancer tumor and his normal DNA sequenced, at a cost of $100,000, the book says.

Isaacson conducted more than 40 interviews with Jobs, who died Oct. 5, the Times said.

Until he underwent surgery in July 2004, Jobs kept his condition largely private from Apple employees, executives and shareholders, who were misled.

Jobs did not heed urgings of friends and family to have surgery and chemotherapy after his diagnosis, the book says.

A friend and mentor, Andrew Grove, the former Intel head who had survived prostate cancer, told Jobs diets and acupuncture would not cure his cancer.

"I told him he was crazy," Grove said.

But when he did decide on surgery, Jobs immersed himself in the science, becoming an expert on treatments, the book says.

The biography also delves into Jobs' business dealings, including a shouting match with Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 2008 over Google's development of Android software for smartphones, which would compete with Apple's iPhone.

Jobs told Isaacson he thought the Android was a "stolen product" that copied Apple's technology.