The Good News About Cancer

Did you know that the immune system, which keeps us from getting sick, can also be harnessed to fight cancer? In this episode, Dr. Jedd Wolchok of Weill Cornell Medicine explains the major breakthroughs that led to the development of immunotherapy. This revolutionized treatment of metastatic melanoma, and has since been a game-changer in treating many other kinds of cancers.

We all receive genes from our parents, but what happens when our family carries genetic variants that are known to cause cancer? Chuck talks with Dr. Pamela Munster about the specialty clinic she runs at the University of California, San Francisco, for those who have cancers that arise from genetic variants. She also shares her unique experience of being an oncologist who has had breast cancer, and has a BRCA variant herself.

What if we could detect cancer before it even formed a tumor? That’s what Dr. Margaret Tempero is working on at the Cancer Early Detection and Interception Initiative at the University of California, San Francisco. Chuck talks with Dr. Tempero about advances in early detection through circulating tumor DNA and other approaches. They discuss how new early detection strategies could affect primary care, oncology, and most of importantly, those at risk for cancers.

The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health is a lot more than a group of buildings in Bethesda, Maryland. It’s an institution that provides vital support for cancer research, and connects a national network of cancer centers that treat patients around the country. In this episode, Chuck and Alicia talk with outgoing NCI director, Dr. Kim Rathmell, about the role of the organization and some recent points of progress.

Over the past several years, more and more Americans have been vaccinated against HPV, a virus known to cause cervical cancer, head and neck cancer, anal cancer and vaginal cancer, among others. As a result of the HPV vaccine, the cancers caused by this virus have declined significantly, and many lives have been saved. In this episode, Chuck talks with Dr. Ashish Deshmukh about this major public health win.

Chuck and Alicia sit down with Dr. William Pao to hear the story of how he contributed to the discovery of a gene mutation in lung cancer – a discovery that opened up new avenues for treatment, and changed thousands of lives. Find Dr. Pao’s book, Breakthrough, at all major booksellers.

To kick off The Good News About Cancer, Chuck and Alicia sit down with Karen Knudsen, the outgoing CEO of the American Cancer Society, to talk about some of the biggest wins in cancer prevention and treatment.

Did you know there was good news about cancer?

In each episode of The Good News About Cancer, Dr. Charles Ryan and Dr. Alicia Morgans unpack exciting new developments in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

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