The Good News About Cancer
About the hosts:
Charles J. Ryan, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, is an internationally recognized genitourinary (GU) oncologist with expertise in the biology, treatment, and supportive care of men with prostate cancer. Dr. Ryan earned a BA in Philosophy, magna cum laude, from Marquette University and graduated from the University of Wisconsin Medical School. He trained at the University of Wisconsin and at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program, and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Ryan has published over 200 articles and chapters in the world’s leading medical journals including the New England Journal of Medicine and Cell. He is the author of the book The Virility Paradox: The Vast Influence of Testosterone on Our Bodies, Minds, and the World We Live In. Dr. Ryan is a past Chair of the National Cancer Institute GU Steering Committee’s Prostate Cancer Task Force. He was previously the Thomas Perkins Distinguished Professor in Cancer Research at UCSF and the BJ Kennedy Chair in Clinical Oncology at the University of Minnesota, and served as President and CEO of the Prostate Cancer Foundation from 2021-24. He is now an Attending Physician and Member of the Faculty at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and Medical Director of the Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Consortium.
Alicia Morgans, MD, MPH, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a Genitourinary Medical Oncologist and the Director of the Survivorship Program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. As a clinician and investigator, she has expertise in clinical trials and patient-reported outcome measures, as well as incorporating patient preferences and beliefs into clinical decision making. Her research has investigated complications of systemic therapy for prostate cancer survivors, including the study of skeletal, cardiovascular, diabetic, and cognitive complications, and her work has been funded by grants from the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, and the Department of Defense. She leads multiple therapeutic and quality of life focused clinical trials for prostate cancer patients, and has participated in the advanced and localized prostate cancer treatment guidelines committees of the American Urologic Association, and the cardio-oncology committee of American Heart Association.
How A Vaccine Could Treat Pancreatic Cancer
Vaccines have long been used to treat many diseases, but cancer has not historically been one of them. At the Olayan Center for Cancer Vaccines at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Dr. Vinod Balachandran and others are working to change that. In this episode, Chuck talks with Dr. Balachandran about his work...
A Lot of Good News About Lung Cancer
In the past few decades, we have made huge strides when it comes to reducing mortality from lung cancer. Gone are the days when cigarettes were allowed in restaurants – improvements in prevention, screening, and treatment for lung cancer have completely changed the narrative. In this episode, Alicia...
Taking CAR T cell Immunotherapy to the Next Level
More than a decade ago, doctors at the University of Pennsylvania treated a patient with her own T cells, which had been engineered to recognize and target the cancer cells in her body. The treatment, which is called CAR T cell immunotherapy, is now widely used for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, ...
You Are What You Eat: Good News About Cancer Edition
New research is helping us to better understand the connections between nutrition and cancer risk. Alicia and Chuck talked with Mathilde Touvier, one of the global researchers studying this issue. She’s a nutritional epidemiologist based in France, and her lab is looking at the effects certain food ...
Bridging the Gap in Treating Childhood Cancers Worldwide
Huge strides have been made in diagnosing and treating childhood cancers, but most of those benefits are seen in the wealthiest countries in the world. This leaves hundreds of thousands of children in need of adequate cancer care. Dr. André Ilbawi with the World Health Organization tells us about th...
A Revolution in Bladder Cancer Treatment
Bladder cancer used to be a disease with very few effective treatment options. That was until two new strategies came on the scene: immunotherapies and antibody drug conjugates. These approaches have changed the way doctors treat bladder cancer, and prolonged the lives of many patients. Dr. Tom Powl...
Putting Quality Over Quantity with Radioligand Therapy
Radioligand therapy is a form of precise cancer treatment that targets specific cells with a radioactive substance. It’s used to treat prostate cancer and some types of neuroendocrine cancer, delivering powerful results with minimal impact on patient quality of life. Dr. Michael Morris helped develo...
Early Detection, Part 3: C the Signs
A lot of cancers don’t get diagnosed until the disease is somewhat advanced. Dr. Bea Bakshi founded her company, C the Signs, to change that. They use artificial intelligence to comb through medical records and identify when a patient should be screened for cancer – and it catches disease far earlie...
Early Detection, Part 2: Screening for Over 50 Cancers with Cancerguard
A new blood test called Cancerguard is pushing the boundaries of cancer early detection. The test is widely available, and has the ability to screen for more than 50 cancer types. In this episode, Chuck talks with Dr. Tom Beer of Exact Sciences, the company behind the Cancerguard test. Downloa...