The Good News About Cancer

Episodes

• How A Vaccine Could Treat Pancreatic Cancer 28.04.2026 22m

  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 on a vaccine to treat pancreatic cancer.
• A Lot of Good News About Lung Cancer 21.04.2026 21m

  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 and Chuck talk through the good news about lung cancer with Dr. Christine Lovly, Division Chief of Thoracic Medical Oncology at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center.
• Taking CAR T cell Immunotherapy to the Next Level 14.04.2026 21m

  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, and myeloma. Today, scientists like Saul Priceman are working to take this therapy to the next level, making it effective against as many cancer types as possible. He talked with Chuck and Alicia about what his lab is doing to improve CAR T cell immunotherapy.
• You Are What You Eat: Good News About Cancer Edition 07.04.2026 21m

  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 additives have on our risk of developing cancer.
• Bridging the Gap in Treating Childhood Cancers Worldwide 31.03.2026 24m

  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 their initiative that aims to bridge this gap, and deliver services to children in low and middle resourced countries with the goal of saving one million children by 2030.
• A Revolution in Bladder Cancer Treatment 24.03.2026 24m

  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 Powles, head of Barts Cancer Institute, tells Chuck and Alicia about his work on developing these treatments and where he hopes science will take us next.
• Putting Quality Over Quantity with Radioligand Therapy 17.03.2026 23m

  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 develop radioligands for prostate cancer, and he tells Chuck and Alicia about the huge promise he sees in these treatments going forward.
• Early Detection, Part 3: C the Signs 18.11.2025 22m

  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 earlier than a human doctor could. She tells Chuck about their success integrating into the National Health System in the UK, and their plans to launch in the United States.
• Early Detection, Part 2: Screening for Over 50 Cancers with Cancerguard 11.11.2025 20m

  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. 
• Early Detection, Part 1: Finding Cancer in the Blood, Years Before Symptoms 04.11.2025 20m

  The earlier a cancer is detected, the more possibilities there are for effective treatment. In this episode, Chuck and Alicia talk with Dr. Nickolas Papadopoulos about his research into how indications of cancer can show up in the blood, long before symptoms arise.
• When Exercise Is The Prescription 28.10.2025 22m

  We all know that exercise is good for us, but historically there hasn’t been much data on how much exercise – or what kind of exercise – might have benefits for cancer patients. In this episode, Chuck and Alicia talk with Kerry Courneya of the University of Alberta about his study that looked into the question of exercise for patients with colorectal cancer. The results, which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, show that exercise could be even better than we think.
• When Immunotherapy Can Replace Surgery 21.10.2025 25m

  Colorectal cancer rates are on the rise, particularly among young people. And the standard of care treatments can have lifelong impacts on a patient's quality of life – but new immunotherapies could change that. Dr. Andrea Cercek joins Chuck and Alicia to talk about the immunotherapy drug Dostarlimab, which is ushering in a new era of cancer treatment.
• The Story Behind Imatinib, the First Targeted Cancer Treatment 06.05.2025 26m

  Before the early 2000s, there were no effective treatments for chronic myelogenous leukemia, a blood cancer. Then came Imatinib. This drug dramatically improved survival and quality of life for patients with this disease. It also ushered in a new era of cancer treatment, with drugs that directly target tumor cells. In this episode, Chuck and Alicia talk with Dr. Brian Druker, a renowned physician scientist who was the main force behind the development of Imatinib.
• From Breast Cancer Patients to Healthy Mothers 29.04.2025 21m

  As more people live longer and healthier lives following a cancer diagnosis, it brings up all kinds of questions about what is possible and safe. In this episode, Chuck and Alicia talk with Dr. Ann Partridge of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute about her work looking into how breast cancer survivors can have healthy pregnancies.In September, Dana-Farber is hosting the 2025 Cancer Centers Survivorship Research Forum. Find more information and register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cancer-centers-survivorship-research-forum-2025-registration-1270679660069
• 21 Million Years of Life Reclaimed from Blood Cancers 22.04.2025 22m

  An estimated 1.6 million people in the U.S. are living with or in remission from blood cancer. Many of these people are children. Today, thanks to the work of clinicians and researchers like Dr. Andy Kolb of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, those patients are living longer and undergoing less toxic treatments. In this episode, Dr. Kolb joins Chuck and Alicia to explain how his organization is improving the lives of patients with leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and other blood cancers.
• How Melanoma Met its Match: Cancer Immunotherapy 15.04.2025 22m

  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.
• Preventing Cancer by Understanding Inherited Risks 18.03.2025 22m

  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.
• Cancer Early Detection: Beyond Mammograms and Colonoscopy 11.03.2025 20m

  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 Crucial Role of the National Cancer Institute 04.03.2025 22m

  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.
• Winning Against HPV 25.02.2025 20m

  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.