Podcasts about memorial sloan kettering

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance", we are joined by Abigail Simon, ballerina, dancer agent, mother, wife and survivor extraordinaire. Abigail takes us on her journey as a baby ballerina at the School Of American Ballet, through to her professional career at American Ballet Theater and the Joffrey, and finally her exploration of musical theater. Her incredible strength and resolve will be on full display at "Dance Against Cancer" this May 19th when she returns to the stage after her own battle against the disease. All performance information for this incredible fundraiser, including programming and ticket information: https://dacny.acsgala.org/. For those who cannot attend but wish to make a donation to one of the organizations mentioned by Abigail, you can find links below.Resources and places to donate in Abigail's Honor:American Cancer Society: https://www.cancer.org/donate.html5 under 40: https://5under40.org/Memorial Sloan Kettering: https://giving.mskcc.org/LINKS:Website: conversationsondancepod.comInstagram: @conversationsondanceMerch: https://bit.ly/cod-merchYouTube: https://bit.ly/youtube-CODJoin our email list: https://bit.ly/COD-email Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Oncology Brothers podcast! In this episode, Drs. Rohit and Rahul Gosain are joined by Dr. Ghassan Abou-Alfa, a medical oncologist specializing in the hepatobiliary space at Memorial Sloan Kettering. Together, they explored the current treatment landscape of biliary tract cancer, focusing on the advancements in HER2-driven therapies.   Key topics discussed included: • The evolution of treatment options for biliary tract cancer, including chemotherapy and immunotherapy. • The significance of genetic testing, including IDH1 mutations, FGFR alterations, and HER2 status. • The role of multidisciplinary collaboration in managing hepatobiliary cancers. • Insights into the latest clinical trials and emerging therapies for HER2-positive biliary tract cancer.   Join us as we delve into the complexities of biliary tract cancer and the promising developments in HER2-targeted treatments. Don't forget to check out our next episode, where we will take a deeper dive into the data surrounding HER2 therapies and discuss management strategies for common side effects.   YouTube: https://youtu.be/pGiU7JJGNOc   Follow us on social media: •⁠  ⁠X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/oncbrothers •⁠  ⁠Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oncbrothers •⁠  Website: https://oncbrothers.com/   Subscribe to stay updated on the latest in oncology! #OncologyBrothers #BiliaryTractCancer #HER2 #CancerTreatment #MedicalOncology #CME #Podcast

Radiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Monmouth, Nicole Saphier, calls in to discuss RFK Jr. saying he'll find a cure for autism by September, before she dives into the evolution of cancer treatment in our country and why obesity continues to be America's biggest health issue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is an honor and a privilege to welcome back Ethan Zohn to The Jake's Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast. Ethan became a household name when he first appeared on Survivor: Africa, the third season of the legendary US reality TV competition. He won seven challenges and the title of “Sole Survivor.” He appeared on Survivor: All-Stars, where he won four challenges but lasted only 21 days, and returned to compete in the milestone season Survivor: Winners at War, where he only won one challenge and lasted 35 days.Since Survivor, Ethan has become an influential social entrepreneur. With a portion of his Survivor: Africa winnings, he co-founded Grassroots Soccer (GRS). GRS is an adolescent health organization that harnesses the power of soccer to provide young people with essential information, services, and mentorship they need to lead healthier lives. Since its inception, GRS has expanded to 60 countries in Africa and worldwide, has graduated 13 million youth, and has worked with scores of public—and private-sector partners.He also raised his voice to fight cancer.  Cancer-free since 2012, Ethan Zohn has been a voice for fighters, survivors, and caregivers of all ages, even chronicling the gritty details of his entire cancer experience for People Magazine. While undergoing treatment, he ran and finished the New York City and Boston marathons to help spread messages of hope and resilience to the world. Ethan is a champion for investment in new medical research and technology. He is an advisor to numerous hospitals and foundations, such as Cancer Buddy, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and Memorial Sloan Kettering. As demonstrated by his charitable work, tzedakah, and community involvement, Ethan believes that Jewish values can achieve a better and healthier world. His inspiration to help heal the world stems from being taught at an early age the importance of community, a connection to the Jewish faith, and the preservation of Israel.  Ethan shares his deep bond to Judaism, his connection to the Jewish community, and his relationship with Israel by partnering with Jewish organizations that do critical work worldwide, such as BBYO, the Jewish National Fund, and Maccabi USA.On this episode of The Jake's Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast, Ethan Zohn discussed Survivor's impact on Reality TV, creating the Crunch Bowl, combating antisemitism, and previewing Grassroots Soccer's Changemaker Cup.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jake-s-take-with-jacob-elyachar--4112003/support.

What's up everyone, today we have the pleasure of sitting down with Danielle Balestra, Director of Marketing Technology and Operations at Goodwin. Summary: Marketing operations power organizational change through deep system understanding. Danielle reveals how strategic operators transform corporate landscapes by mapping intricate human networks, turning complex bureaucracies into adaptive innovation platforms. Her approach reconstructs marketing from a tactical function into a critical strategic driver, where understanding organizational dynamics becomes the primary method of creating meaningful business transformation.About DanielleDanielle started her career at a big ad agency in NYC before trying marketing at all sorts of different places like b2b media, financial education and brand reputation intelligenceShe spent time as a Senior consultant at a boutique agency and also freelanced as a Marketo specialistShe became Director of Marketing Ops at one of the top cancer hospitals in the US and later VP of Marketing Ops at CIT Bank where she led a big MAP transformationToday Danielle is Director of Martech and Operations at Goodwin (a global law firm), where she manages of team of 16 that includes web, CRM, Ops, Email and Solution ArchitectHow to Defeat Enterprise Inertia with Tactical Marketing Ops StrategiesMarketing ops in enterprise moves like molasses compared to SaaS startups—and Danielle has the battle scars to prove it. After years in consulting, she deliberately jumped into the enterprise arena, not despite its notorious sluggishness but because of the massive internal transformation potential. "The reason I pivoted into large enterprise was because it's an opportunity to sell innovation internally, but also get paid," she explains with refreshing candor.You face a completely different animal when implementing martech in a 4,000+ employee organization. Your job morphs into part-marketer, part-internal lobbyist:Finding the hungry change-makers scattered across departmentsBuilding coalitions with colleagues who crave efficiency Selling the vision repeatedly to overcome institutional inertiaImplementing solutions that feel revolutionary in environments resistant to changeThe satisfaction comes from moving mountains that seemed immovable. Tech startups already expect and fund scaling technologies—the path glows with green lights. Enterprise paths bristle with red tape and "we've always done it this way" roadblocks.Danielle's enterprise journey reads like a marketing ops fairytale gone rogue. "My three enterprises was like Goldilocks," she laughs. Memorial Sloan Kettering, despite its prestigious reputation, crawled at a pace that drove her to distraction. "It took us six months to put a preference center up. This is way too slow." The bed was too soft. CIT offered more speed but lacked investment for sustained growth. The bed was too hard.Then came Goodwin, where the legal industry's appetite for evolution aligned with her expertise. Fresh leadership—a new COO and chairman committed to "running business with data and intelligence"—created fertile ground for her marketing ops vision. This bed was just right. The transformation feels electric precisely because legal firms typically move at glacial speeds.You'll recognize the right enterprise fit when leadership actively hungers for data-driven decisions rather than merely talking about them. Words matter less than resource allocation and willingness to disrupt comfortable patterns.Key takeaway: Map internal influence networks, document wins with leadership-valued metrics, and secure early budget control. Build a six-month roadmap of small victories that advance your larger vision without triggering organizational resistance. Treat internal stakeholders as customers by selling efficiency improvements as competitive advantages.Why Enterprise Martech Can Be as Fun as Tech StartupsEnterprise martech gets a bad rap for being outdated and slow. "Legacy enterprise tools-ish," as the skeptics call platforms like Microsoft Dynamics and Marketo. But this surface-level dismissal misses what actually happens inside regulated industries. Danielle dismantles this misconception with the calm precision of someone who's lived both worlds. "Being in a healthcare organization, being at a bank, do you really want to put your data out there for anyone to grab?" It's a practical question that trendy martech vendors conveniently sidestep.> "The banks and even some financial institution clients have had data lakes and orchestration systems in place for over two decades. This is old hat for them and just new for the tech world."Regulated industries pioneered data intelligence while today's "innovative" startups were still in diapers. "The banks and even some financial institution clients have had data lakes and orchestration systems in place for over two decades," Danielle points out with a hint of amusement. "This is old hat for them and just new for the tech world." The irony stings: what passes for cutting-edge today has been standard operating procedure in banking since before most SaaS companies existed. These industries understood customer behavior, engagement patterns, and product usage long before "customer journey orchestration" became a conference buzzword.The real enterprise challenge isn't technological capability—it's processing time. When vendor onboarding takes nine months and you need a solution in six, you return to established platforms with comprehensive portfolios. Danielle's experience with an event scanner technology purchase illustrates this perfectly: "We started the process in 2019 and ended it in mid-2020. It took us almost a year to process that." During that implementation period, the vendor was acquired by another company! You face two options:Wait patiently through lengthy security reviews for innovative toolsExpand usage of already-approved enterprise platformsAccept that this gatekeeping prevents wasteful impulse purchasesAcknowledge that crucial tools still eventually make it throughMicrosoft Dynamics gets unfairly maligned in this "latest and greatest" obsession. Danielle's first experience with the platform revealed unexpected advantages: "Working with an organization that still programs and builds from their own code is pretty awesome." With native integrations, consistent data across systems, and direct connections to BI reporting through Fabric, Dynamics eliminates the integration headaches that consume marketing operations teams. No more asking, "Why is this in Salesforce but not in Marketo?" The data lives in one cohesive environment.Key takeaway: Master enterprise martech by: (1) Ruthlessly audit system integration points, recognizing each connection as a data vulnerability and maintenance challenge. (2) Distinguish between product limitations and implementation failures by testing workflows across deployments. (3) Create a security-first evaluation matrix scoring tools on compliance, data isolation, and authentication before considering features. Transform security constraints into competitive advantages that protect data and career.Building Martech Stacks That Solve Actual Business ProblemsEnterprise martech builds differently—forget your perfect-world stack exercises. While workshop participants happily connect hypothetical Salesforce instances to Outreach in frictionless diagrams, real enterprise teams face vendor mandates and security roadblocks that crush agility. "You can't really just connect to this," as the stark reality goes. Danielle brings refreshing clarity to this enterprise constraint, flipping perceived limitations into p...

Cancer is not a singular disease but a category of hundreds, even thousands, of rare diseases with different molecular signatures and genetic roots. Cancer scientists are looking for a thousand perfect keys to pick a thousand stubborn locks. Today's episode is about the hardest lock of them all: pancreatic cancer. Cancer's power lives in its camouflage. The immune system is often compared to a military search and destroy operation, with our T cells serving as the expert snipers, hunting down antigens and taking them out. But cancer kills so many of us because it looks so much like us. Pancreatic cancer is so deadly in part because it's expert at hiding itself from the immune system. Now, here's the good news. This might be the brightest moment for progress in  pancreatic cancer research in decades—and possibly ever. In the past few years, scientists have developed new drugs that target the key gene mutation responsible for out of control cell growth. Recently, a team of scientists at Oregon Health and Science University claimed to have developed a blood test that is 85 percent accurate at early-stage detection of pancreatic cancer, which is absolutely critical given how advanced the cancer is by the time it's typically caught. And last month, a research center at Memorial Sloan Kettering published a truly extraordinary paper. Using mRNA technology similar to the COVID vaccines, a team of scientists designed a personalized therapy to buff up the immune systems of people with pancreatic cancer. Patients who responded to the treatment saw results that boggle the mind: 75 percent were cancer-free three years after their initial treatment. Not just alive, which would be its own minor miracle. But cancer-free. The mRNA vaccine, administered within a regimen of standard drugs, stood up to the deadliest cancer of them all and won. Today's guest is the head of that research center, the surgical oncologist Vinod Balachandran. The concept of a personalized cancer vaccine is still unproven at scale. But if it works, the potential is enormous. But again: Cancer does not exist, as a singular disease. Cancer is a category of rare diseases, many of which are exquisitely specific to the molecular mosaic of the patient. Cancers are personal. Perhaps in a few years, our cures for cancers will be equally personalized. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Vinod Balachandran Producer: Devon Baroldi Links:  Cancer Vaccine paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08508-4 P.S. Derek wrote a new book! It's called 'Abundance,' and it's about an optimistic vision for politics, science, and technology that gets America building again. Buy it here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Abundance/Ezra-Klein/9781668023488 Plus: If you live in Seattle, Atlanta, or the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, Derek is coming your way in March! See him live at book events in your city. Tickets here: The Abundance Book Tour Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pancreatic cancer is notoriously difficult to treat, and about 90% of diagnosed patients die from the disease. A team at Memorial Sloan Kettering has been working to improve those outcomes by developing a new mRNA vaccine for pancreatic cancer.A few years ago, the team embarked on a small trial to test the vaccine's safety. Sixteen patients with pancreatic cancer received it, and even though it was a small study, the results were promising: Half the participants had an immune response, and in those patients the cancer hadn't relapsed after 18 months.This week, the team released a new study in Nature following those same patients, and found six out of eight who responded to the vaccine in the first study did not have their cancer return more than three years later.Joining host Flora Lichtman to talk about these results, and what they could mean for the future of cancer treatment, is study author and surgeon Dr. Vinod Balachandran, director of The Olayan Center for Cancer Vaccines at Memorial Sloan Kettering, based in New York City.Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.  Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

In this episode, Lisa welcomes with Dr. Nicole Saphier, a radiologist and director of breast cancer imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering, FOX News Health Expert, and more. The discussion spans key health topics, including the nuanced conversation around vaccines, the resurgence of measles outbreaks due to declining vaccination rates, and the rising incidence of breast cancer among younger women. Dr. Saphier emphasizes the importance of informed, balanced health dialogues and advocates for personal choice in vaccination. She also offers practical health tips, such as engaging in enjoyable physical activities, consuming a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, and minimizing hormone and antibiotic intake. The Truth with Lisa Boothe is part of the CLay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Tuesday & Thursday.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this highly anticipated episode, we welcome Dr. Gerald Post, a board-certified veterinary oncologist and founder of the Animal Cancer Foundation, along with Barbara Cohen, the executive director of the foundation. Join us as we delve into the vital intersection of comparative oncology, exploring how advancements in veterinary medicine can illuminate new paths in human cancer treatment. Dr. Post shares the heartfelt story behind the founding of the Animal Cancer Foundation, discussing his experiences at Memorial Sloan Kettering and the critical need for funding research outside institutional boundaries. Together with Barbara, they emphasize the importance of collaboration between human and veterinary oncologists, highlighting how both fields can learn from each other to improve cancer therapies and outcomes for our beloved pets. Listeners will gain insight into the groundbreaking work being done at the Animal Cancer Foundation, including funding innovative projects and webinars that educate pet owners on the realities of pet cancer. We also explore the emotional journey faced by pet owners, as Barbara shares her personal motivations for dedicating her life to this cause. Throughout the conversation, we discuss the importance of quality of life in treatment options, the impact of pharmacogenomics in veterinary oncology, and the exciting potential of comparative oncology in revolutionizing cancer care for both pets and humans. https://www.vetco.org/en/about/speakers/item/57-gerald-post Barbara joined Animal Cancer Foundation as Executive Director in 2009 because the mission to unite pet and human cancer research resonated with me. As a decade long volunteer with golden retriever rescue, I had witnessed how many dogs were fighting the same cancers that friends and family had also contracted. I was amazed at the information veterinary oncologists had acquired in their care for our pets that wasn't being tapped by oncology research for people. I want to change that so that both pets and people benefit from the breakthroughs of collaborative research. Barbara received her Bachelor's degree in Political Science and certification in the Community Health Program from Tufts University. She earned a Masters of Science in Secondary Education/English from Long Island University/CW Post. --- Your furry friend's health and happiness is paramount & while most pets are generally healthy, they may sometimes develop hyperkeratosis - a condition characterized by an excessive build-up of keratin proteins on the nose and paw pads causing the skin to become thicker than normal. Vetrimax Solva-Ker Gel is a quick drying, greaseless healing gel for dry/cracked skin and paws for dogs, cats, and horses. With proper care, hyperkeratosis is highly manageable, and Solva-Ker Gel is the industry-leading treatment, with ingredients salicylic acid producing skin turnover and urea which holds in moisture. This clinically proven, patented formulation is the country's #1 veterinarian-recommended solution for idiopathic hyperkeratosis. VetriMax Solva-Ker Gel takes less effort to yield maximum benefit. Today, our podcast listeners can try Solva-Ker Gel with an incredible 15% off at Chewy.com by entering promo code VETRIMAX15 at checkout. Order today at chewy.com and save 15%! --- Support our sponsor for this episode Blue Buffalo by visiting bluebuffalo.com. BLUE Natural Veterinary Diet formulas offer the natural alternative in nutritional therapy. At Blue Buffalo, we have an in-house Research & Development (R&D) team with over 300 years' experience in well-pet and veterinary therapeutic diets, over 600 scientific publications, and over 50 U.S. patents. At Blue Buffalo, we have an in-house Research & Development (R&D) team with over 300 years' experience in well-pet and veterinary therapeutic diets, over 600 scientific publications, and over 50 U.S. patents. --- All footage is owned by SLA Video Productions.

In this inspiring episode, we welcome Dr. Troso, a renowned oncologist with 25 years of experience at Memorial Sloan Kettering. Dr. Troso shares her insights on empowering cancer patients through education, mindset, and advocacy. From discussing advancements in cancer care to her innovative online educational platform, Dr. Troso provides valuable tools to help patients navigate their journey with confidence.   Key Discussion Points: Dr. Troso's education at Princeton and Cornell. 25-year career at Memorial Sloan Kettering. Inspired by her grandmother's cancer journey to pursue oncology. Importance of understanding diagnosis and treatment options. Patient education reduces anxiety and improves outcomes. Optimism and active participation benefit physical health. Grit and resilience help navigate the cancer journey. Advancements in immunotherapy and targeted HER2 treatments. Progress in hormonal therapies and early detection. Integrating traditional and complementary medicine. Educating patients on supplement and treatment interactions. Concierge services for personalized cancer care guidance. Subscription-based courses for patients and caregivers. Organizing patient records offers clarity and comfort. Small acts of care build trust and reduce stress. Expanding patient education on a national level. Tools and resources shared via speaking, books, and courses. Advocate for yourself and ask questions. Build a strong support system with family, friends, or professionals. Immortalize your voice by being an ALL TALK ONCOLOGY GUEST! Just fill-out this FORM. FREE WEBINAR: https://www.alltalkoncology.com/webinar HELPFUL LINKS: If you want to seek our help, join our "I Have Cancer, Am I Going To Die?" program. Cancer Mindset Mini-Course: "It Starts With Your Mind". 5 Stage Of Winning Against My Cancer Diagnosis E-Book. Claim your Digital Copy Now! SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS: All Talk Oncology: Instagram & Facebook Your Cancer Guy: Instagram WEBSITE: https://www.alltalkoncology.com

A major agreement between Anthem BCBS and Memorial Sloan-Kettering brings about a major Christmas gift to Cancer patients across NYC. Find out more on Alex Garrett's One Leg Up Network! Link to the article referenced: https://www.lohud.com/story/ne... Please welcome MFI MEDICAL as an affiliate sponsor to One Leg Up On Adapting With Alex Garrett! Affiliate link is here thanks to IMPACT https://mfimedical.sjv.io/c/34...

Osteosarcoma Webinar Series: Chelsey Burke, MD, a physician-scientist from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and an OutSmarting Osteosarcoma Young Investigator 2024 grant recipient, shares findings from her work studying the evolution of osteosarcoma tumors. At present, we have a limited understanding of how osteosarcoma tumors change with conventional treatment and go on to develop drug resistance. Dr. Burke discusses the use of mouse models to investigate osteosarcoma tumor evolution and identify emerging resistance mechanisms that can be therapeutically targeted.Chelsey Burke, MD is an assistant attending and young investigator at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. After graduating from the University of Iowa with a B.S. in biology, Dr. Burke obtained her medical degree from St. George's University School of Medicine. Following pediatric residency at Advocate Children's Hospital in Chicago, where she served as pediatric chief resident, she joined the combined Memorial Sloan Kettering and New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell pediatric hematology and oncology fellowship program. During fellowship, Dr. Burke joined the laboratory of Dr. Filemon Dela Cruz and Dr. Andrew Kung where her research focuses on pediatric cancer modeling and preclinical drug development. Dr. Burke has a particular interest in bone sarcomas, including osteosarcoma, and is involved in the preclinical evaluation of several novel therapeutics. She hopes this work can be translated into early phase clinical trials and, ultimately, improve outcomes for children, adolescents, and young adults with high-risk sarcomas.

Welcome back to The Genetics Podcast! Today, we're joined by Dr. Luis Diaz, Head of the Division of Solid Tumor Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering and a White House Appointee to the National Cancer Advisory Board. Dr. Diaz's career has been defined by his commitment to translating cutting-edge cancer genomics into clinical practice. In this episode, he and Patrick dive into his groundbreaking trial on mismatch repair (MMR)-deficient rectal cancer, along with his pioneering work on liquid biopsies, immunotherapies targeting tumors with microsatellite instability, and advancements in precision oncology. To learn more about Dr. Diaz and his work, visit his research page here: https://www.mskcc.org/research-areas/labs/luis-diaz.

This week on The Most Days Show, Brent welcomes Dr. Diane Reidy-Lagunes, a clinical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, specializing in gastrointestinal cancers such as neuroendocrine, colorectal, and pancreas cancers. They discuss the cutting-edge landscape of cancer prevention and early detection, full-body scans, blood-based cancer screenings, and lifestyle interventions. Dr. Reidy-Lagunes goes in depth on the complexities of cancer biology, the role of genetic versus lifestyle factors, and the emerging field of microbiome research in understanding cancer risk. This episode is an essential primer for anyone looking to better understand cancer prevention and early detection.  You can listen to Memorial Sloan Kettering's official podcast, Cancer Straight Talk, hosted by Dr. Diane Reidy-Lagunes, wherever you get your podcasts.  

Today on Beating Cancer Daily, Saranne is joined by Kristen Dahlgren to explore the groundbreaking topic of cancer vaccines and their immense potential to change the world of oncology. They discuss the importance of raising awareness, the role of public health efforts, and strategic funding to accelerate cancer vaccine research. Kristen shares her insights into the current landscape of cancer vaccine trials, highlighting the collaborative efforts required to make these vaccines a reality. Kristen Dahlgren, a former NBC correspondent, has channeled her media expertise into raising awareness for cancer vaccine initiatives. She has been a fervent advocate since her own breast cancer diagnosis in 2019 and is deeply involved in forming coalitions that unify top cancer researchers across the globe. Kristen works with prestigious institutions like Memorial Sloan Kettering and Dana Farber, pushing forward the development of vaccines for various types of cancer, including one for melanoma, expected by 2025. "The Cancer Vaccine Coalition is about bringing together diverse expertise to accelerate vaccine research." – Kristen Dahlgren Today on Beating Cancer Daily: ·     Exploring the potential of cancer vaccines to transform cancer treatment and prevention·     The importance of public health efforts and strategic funding to speed up cancer vaccine research·     Kristen Dahlgren's journey from a media correspondent to a cancer vaccine advocate·     The role of the Cancer Vaccine Coalition in unifying top cancer researchers·     The significance of diverse and inclusive clinical trials for cancer vaccine development·     Developments in the creation of a potential melanoma vaccine by 2025·     How humor can be utilized to promote cancer vaccination efforts·     Kristen Dahlgren's advocacy for cancer vaccine collaboration across prestigious institutions Resources Mentioned: ComedyCures Foundationhttps://www.ComedyCures.org   Cancer Vaccine Coalitionhttps://cancervaccinecoalition.org/ Guest Contact Information: Kristen Dahlgren: LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-dahlgren  The #1 Rated Cancer Survivor Podcast by FeedSpot and Ranked the Top 5 Best Cancer Podcast by CancerCare News, Beating Cancer Daily is listened to in more than 91 countries on six continents and has over 300 original daily episodes hosted by stage IV survivor Saranne Rothberg!   To learn more about Host Saranne Rothberg and The ComedyCures Foundation:https://www.comedycures.org/ To write to Saranne or a guest:https://www.comedycures.org/contact-8 To record a message to Saranne or a guest:https://www.speakpipe.com/BCD_Comments_Suggestions To sign up for the free Health Builder Series live on Zoom with Saranne and Jacqui, go to The ComedyCures Foundation's homepage:https://www.comedycures.org/ Please support the creation of more original episodes of Beating Cancer Daily and other free ComedyCures Foundation programs with a tax-deductible contribution:http://bit.ly/ComedyCuresDonate THANK YOU! Please tell a friend who we may help, and please support us with a beautiful review. Have a blessed day! Saranne 

For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we're joined by Dr. Patrick Borgen, Chair, Surgery and Director of the Breast Cancer Program at Maimonides Medical Center. After working at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Dr. Borgen came to Maimonides to work with patients from under-resourced communities. Maimonides Health is Brooklyn's largest healthcare system, serving over 320,000 patients each year through the system's three hospitals, with 7,000+ employees, 1,800+ physicians, and more than 80 community-based practices and outpatient centers.  Patients with advanced breast cancer treated at Maimonides lived longer than the national average. For more, visit maimo.org.

Send us a textIt's well known that hospitals struggle with capacity issues, but could the real culprit be poor optimization?Making matters worse, consistent financial pressure and aging populations are driving demand to an all-time high. In this episode of HealthBiz Briefs, Mohan Giridharadas, Founder and CEO of LeanTaaS, discusses the challenges facing medical providers and how advanced algorithms and AI solutions can streamline efficiency for better results.This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/caretalk and get on your way to being your best self.As a BetterHelp affiliate, we may receive compensation from BetterHelp if you purchase products or services through the links provided.

Nadeem Abu-Rustum bio: Dr. Abu-Rustum is a board-certified gynecologic oncologist who specializes in the surgical treatment of gynecologic cancers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He is also a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Abu-Rustum has a special interest in minimally invasive surgery (laparoscopy) for the treatment of cancerous and noncancerous diseases of the female reproductive system, and his clinical research focuses on surgical therapy for gynecologic cancers and innovative surgical approaches to treating gynecologic disorders. Christian Dagher bio: Christian Dagher is a former research fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering, and current OBGYN resident at the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a master's degree in clinical epidemiology and health-services research from Weill-Cornel. Before moving to the US, he completed an OBGYN residency at the American University of Beirut and is interested in studying survival biomarkers in endometrial cancer.  Highlights: The 2023 FIGO staging system for endometrioid endometrial carcinomas included the extent of lymphovascular invasion as a determinant of stage. The new staging system, groups tumors with no lymphovascular space invasion and those with focal invasion (

Dr. Fumiko Chino and Dr. Raymond Osarogiagbon share highlights from the 2024 ASCO Quality Care Symposium, including patient perspectives and compelling research on topics like equity, supportive care, survivorship, and technology and innovation. TRANSCRIPT Dr. Fumiko Chino: Hello and welcome to the ASCO Daily News Podcast. I'm Dr. Fumiko Chino, an assistant professor in radiation oncology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. On today's episode, we'll be highlighting key research and compelling perspectives that were featured at the 2024 ASCO Quality Care Symposium. I was delighted to serve as the chair-elect of this meeting's program committee, and I'm overjoyed to welcome its chair, Dr. Raymond Osarogiagbon, to the podcast today. He is the chief scientist at the Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation and the director of the Multidisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Program at the Baptist Cancer Center in Memphis, Tennessee. Our full disclosures are available in the transcript of this episode, and we've already agreed to go by our first names for this podcast today. Ray, it's so great to speak with you today. Dr. Raymond Osarogiagbon: Thank you, Dr. Chino, and thank you for letting me call you by your first name. Dr. Fumiko Chino: I think both of our names are complicated enough and so I appreciate the level of familiarity that we've had with each other during the planning process for this fantastic meeting. Now, the Quality Care Symposium featured some really compelling research on very timely topics that address a wide range of issues in cancer care, including quality, safety, equity, supportive care, survivorship, and technology and innovation. Wow, what a lot to cover. Ray, do you mind sharing with me some of the key sessions that really stood out for you? Dr. Raymond Osarogiagbon: Yes, Fumiko, this was such a great conference. Our tagline this year was ‘Driving Solutions, Implementing Change.' We had more than 700 attendees in person and virtually. The Symposium featured many fantastic speakers, oral abstracts, posters, and we had networking opportunities for junior colleagues to interact with leaders in the space. We had conversations that will surely inspire future collaborations to improve quality cancer care. We had patients, advocates. I was inspired by the patient perspectives that were presented, learned a lot. And I really felt like this enhanced our understanding of some of the key issues that we see in our clinics. I was honored to be able to introduce my dear friend, Dr. Ethan Basch from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who received the Joseph Simone Quality Care Award this year. Dr. Basch gave a talk titled, “On the Verge of a Golden Age in Quality Cancer Care.” In his talk, which received a standing ovation, Dr. Basch tracked his personal development from fellowship training at Memorial Sloan Kettering through a junior faculty position at the same institution under the mentorship of Dr. Deborah Schrag, and ultimately to his current position as chair of oncology at the University of North Carolina and as physician-in-chief at the North Carolina Cancer Hospital. In parallel, with the evolution of the patient-reported outcomes movement that he has been right at the heart of, and also the evolution of cancer care delivery research into its current position of prominence in oncology. That was a spectacular talk, and it rightly received a standing ovation. We also had presentations and panel discussions that addressed patient navigation and cancer care moving from theory to practice, which provided wonderful, diverse perspectives on the evidence-based approaches to patient navigation and cancer care. And a wonderful session on the complexities of the pharmaceutical supply chain and what everyone in oncology should know that looks at the current challenges in the pharmaceutical supply chain. Leveraging technology to support patient-centered multidisciplinary care [was also covered], and we talked about health-related social needs and the impact of diversity, equity and inclusion on the oncology workforce. Patient care perspectives were just incredible. So, Fumiko, as an equity researcher, I really want to hear your key takeaways from some of these discussions. Dr. Fumiko Chino: I have to say, I was so impressed with not just the science that was presented, but also the passion from some of our educational speakers who are really speaking from their expertise and their commitment to try to continue to advance equity in the field of cancer care. And as someone who is still a relatively junior researcher, I feel that the work that I've done over the last decade has really been built on the shoulders of these giants. Just harkening back to you had mentioned that Dr. Basch essentially gave an overview of his career and as a young health services researcher, I've been really impressed about how generous the leaders in the field have been with their time not only to discuss their research at this conference, but also to talk to trainees and fellows and junior researchers and really share the wealth of their knowledge. In terms of equity research presented at the conference though, I was really struck by the overview we were able to provide about the best care to provide to LGBTQ patients. Dr. Mandy Pratt-Chapman actually gave a really lovely overview that was always centered in the patient. It really taught me a lot about what the best practice is to not just collect SOGI data to improve research, but also that there's billing codes that can actually help decrease the chance that a patient may be misbilled based on anatomical misunderstanding of their gender identity. I was very impressed about the capacity for some of our researchers to really think outside of the classic box for DEI research. So not just race as a social construct, ethnicity, but also health literacy barriers. There was a fantastic analysis looking at a randomized control trial (Abstract 385) that actually showed that patients with low health literacy actually got the most benefit from a digital intervention that involved text reminders to increase adherence. And the flip side of health literacy is that we know that the specific interventions that we do really need to be explicitly designed for the populations that they will be implemented on. Dr. LoConte actually had the results from her intervention looking at a radon mitigation indigenous communities (Abstract 44). And I was so impressed about her commitment to the process of listening to the communities and what their needs were, what their concerns were, and then implementing this community led intervention that helped mitigate the radon risk from many households where the actual radon levels were surprisingly high, beyond what they were that what they were anticipating. And so, it's all of these manifestations of how do we actually improve research, how do we advance the field and further the conversation in an era when it seems like DEI is really under attack. Well, I know you've long been an advocate for equity for lung cancer. And I know that you were actually involved in one of the amazing abstracts being presented that was essentially a decade- long QI (quality improvement) project to try to improve standards of care for lung cancer in a high-risk community in the Mississippi Delta (Abstract 278). And it actually showed over time that this surgical pathology intervention actually was able to improve overall survival for lung cancer. I know that this is part of the work that you've been doing for years. Can you talk a little bit about what was presented within the Symposium specifically for lung cancer, including your study? Dr. Raymond Osarogiagbon: Yes, Fumiko. The member of my team, Olawale Akinbobola, who has an MPH that he actually acquired within my research team I'm proud to say, had the wonderful opportunity to present this work on implementing surgical quality improvement, and in parallel, pathology quality improvement in a well-defined population involving 14 hospitals in seven health care systems across five contiguous hospital referral regions in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee, at the heart of the Mississippi Delta region. So Olawale showed that over the course of four consecutive 5-year time spans, the quality of surgery has improved from a time when using current objective benchmarks of surgical quality, anywhere from 0-5% of resections met these current standards. So basically, applying today's standards, but retrospectively, to where, as the interventions took hold, we now got to a point where about 67% of the sections in this population now attain surgical quality. And we saw in sequential lockstep with that, that the hazard of death among these patients has significantly decreased. All the way, I think using the first 5 years as the reference, the hazard reduced about 64%. Really amazing to see. But you know, there were other fascinating abstracts. There was a randomized controlled trial, Abstract 185, that demonstrated that olanzapine therapy was actually way more effective than prochlorperazine for patients with intractable chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. I found that very compelling abstract. And then there was Elyse Richelle Parks who reported on the effectiveness of a virtual sustained tobacco treatment, Abstract 376 [a clinical trial conducted by ECOG-ACRIN within the NCI Community Oncology Research Program]. This tobacco control intervention is remotely administered using technology that was presented in today's session on leveraging technology to enhance multidisciplinary care delivery.  That too was amazing to behold. Dr. Fumiko Chino: I've been so impressed within my, at least my interactions with the Quality Care Symposium for the last several years about how this meeting really creates the perfect space for this type of science, which can be frankly underappreciated at other meetings. You know, something like a QI project, a quality improvement project leading to an overall survival benefit or a trial like you mentioned, the randomized control trial for olanzapine, which specifically had a quality-of-life endpoint, meaning that patient quality-of-life was a compelling justification for optimal nausea control. These things are really underappreciated sometimes at the larger scientific meetings, and the ASCO Quality Care Symposium is really where these types of studies and this type of research really shines; it's very patient-centered. You mentioned the patient voice being a really integral part, and I certainly agree with that. The entire meeting started with a session featuring a phenomenal patient advocate, Jamil Rivers, who was diagnosed with de novo stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. And her experience with her primary treatment really highlighted some of the care gaps that Black women experience in their journey with breast cancer. And it really charged her to actually create a patient navigation organization to help Black women with breast cancer get more evidence-based care to make sure that they were actually asking the questions that needed to be asked, getting the resources that they qualified for, and making sure they were getting evidence-based care. Now shifting gears a little bit, in oncology and across medicine, there's actually been some major challenges with drug shortages. I'd like to ask you about the session that was featured to inform oncologists about what we need to know about navigating the complexities of the pharmaceutical supply chain. Do you mind sharing highlights from that discussion, Ray? Dr. Raymond Osarogiagbon: I will, Fumiko, but before I do that, I have to follow up on what you said about Jamil Rivers, the breast cancer survivor and advocate who leads the Chrysalis Initiative. She made the statement of the meeting [in my opinion] when she said, “A hospital encounter for a Black woman is like a Black man being pulled over by the police.” Wow. I mean, that's a direct quote. It suddenly helped me understand my wife's many years-long anxiety whenever she has to deal with encounters with clinicians and health care systems. But about that wonderful session on the challenges with the pharmaceutical supply chain. For me, there were two key highlights. One was Dr. Deborah Patt's discussion on the growing influence of pharmacy benefit managers, PBMs, on the cost and delivery of cancer care. And then there is Jason Weston's discussion of how U.S. generic oncology drug manufacturing has moved almost entirely out of the U.S. with this incredible unrealistic price focus, almost so focused on price competition, almost totally ignoring quality and safety. And paradoxically, that fierce competition has inhibited competition, right? So as the margins have shrunk and all these generic drug manufacturers have moved overseas with little oversight, the supply chain gets disrupted because these companies are not able to invest in processes, in their manufacturing facilities and so on. So, when something goes wrong, all of us become vulnerable. And the other striking thing I learned from Jason was this problem is not new. It is not new. It's been with us for decades. And without comprehensive solutions, unfortunately, it's not going to go away. So, these are some of the examples of things that I would really love the podcast audience to go and check out for themselves. Dr. Fumiko Chino: I will just highlight one additional aspect of that session, which was actually the oral abstract (Abstract 1) that was embedded into the session that was specifically about how when during the cisplatin shortage of last year, when that drug was out of stock, which is honestly a very widely available, typically cheap medication, Dr. Jody Garey actually presented on the fact that the things that were substituted were actually far more expensive, and that actually led to not just people not getting the standard of care due to the drug shortages, but also increased costs. So, the bizarre side effect of the race to the bottom in terms of price competition is the fact that during these shortage periods, there's actually a sharp increase in the overall cost, not just to the administration, but also in terms of payer costs and patient cost sharing. So, it is sort of a lose-lose situation. And that was really highlighted to me by that abstract. And I'm so grateful for the research that really puts these experiences that we see in our clinic, things like drug shortages, in a larger perspective of how things like health policy and reimbursement and some of the nitty-gritty that goes on beyond the scenes in terms of oncology practice really is ending up impacting patient care. Now Ray, is there anything else you'd like to highlight before we wrap up the podcast? Dr. Raymond Osarogiagbon: One I maybe should highlight was the discussion about DEI, which is obviously a contentious topic. And we had Dr. Tawana Thomas Johnson with the American Cancer Society tell us how DEI has evolved from something that everybody seemed like they were eager to support and champion in 2020 to a kind of backlash...how we moved from $5 billion in pledges by corporations to support DEI initiatives in 2020 after the George Floyd murder to now where everybody is wanting to roll things back. And yet in the face of this, wanting to roll things back, wanting to respond to the inevitable backlash, there is this commitment still that some companies have had to DEI and workforce development ideas, so nevertheless, ongoing support. For me, that was a bright spot. Dr. Fumiko Chino: I have to say, as someone who started going to the ASCO Quality Care Symposium as a trainee, I've been really encouraged myself in terms of bright spots for this meeting about the engagement from trainees, from medical students to residents and fellows to early faculty. We even had someone who had just graduated high school ask us one of the questions in a session. And that really highlighted for me that this meeting is a very young meeting. It really is the next generation of health services researchers. And that has always been one of the joys about some of the discussions because I feel like the science presented, the education presented is sparking new collaborations, new research paradigms, new mission driven research for another generation. And it's been just simply phenomenal. Dr. Raymond Osarogiagbon: Yeah, the networking opportunities. Wow. It was such a joy to behold people getting together, breaking off in small clusters, interacting with each other, strangers meeting and hitting it off. I mean, just what a wonderful meeting this is. Dr. Fumiko Chino: Yeah, I have to highlight that. Certainly, at my first ASCO Quality meeting at this point, I think eight years ago, I went to one of those Meet the Expert luncheons, had a great conversation with a phenomenal researcher who I still obviously very much admire. And I was sitting at a table at a Meet the Expert luncheon today. And I just felt so invigorated by some of the conversations that I had with the next generation of researchers about how to define their lane, their passion, and how to continue to advance the field. Thank you, Ray, for sharing your key takeaways from the 2024 ASCO Quality Care Symposium and for leading a truly robust program this year. Dr. Raymond Osarogiagbon: Thank you, Fumiko. This has been a labor of love as you will find when you take on this responsibility for next year's meeting. This has been my pleasure. Dr. Fumiko Chino: Thank you so much. I'm really excited about the program that we're going to start planning in Chicago next year. Everyone listening can mark their calendars for October in Chicago. I really want to thank our listeners for your time today. You will find the links to the sessions and the abstracts that we discussed in the transcript of this episode. And if you value the insights that you hear on the ASCO Daily News Podcast, please take a moment to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Disclaimer:    The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions.    Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement.   Follow today's speakers: Dr. Fumiko Chino @fumikochino Dr. Raymond Osarogiagbon  @ROsarogiagbon    Follow ASCO on social media:  @ASCO on Twitter  ASCO on Facebook  ASCO on LinkedIn    Disclosures:  Dr. Fumiko Chino: No relationships to disclose Dr. Raymond Osarogiagbon:   Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Lilly, Pfizer, Gillead  Honoraria: Medscape, Biodesix  Consulting or Advisory Role: AstraZeneca, American Cancer Society, Triptych Health Partners, Genetech/Roche, National Cancer Institute, LUNGevity  Patents, Royalties, Other Intellectual Property: 2 US and 1 China patents for lymph node specimen collection kit and metho of pathologic evaluation   Other Relationship: Oncobox Device, Inc.

The How To! hosts love helping listeners find the answers they need. But sometimes a host needs help, too. On this episode, Courtney Martin and her brother, Chris, open up about how their father's dementia has led them to upend their own lives in order to become his caregivers. To help Courtney and Chris talk through what comes next, Carvell Wallace welcomes Dr. Allison Applebaum, whose book Stand by Me chronicles her own caregiving journey and her work at Memorial Sloan Kettering's Caregivers Clinic.  If you liked this episode check out: How To Help a Loved One With Dementia and How To Make Aging Easier for Everyone Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at howto@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen. How To's executive producer is Derek John. Joel Meyer is our senior editor/producer. The show is produced by Rosemary Belson, with Kevin Bendis and Sara McCrae. Want more How To!? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the How To! show page. Or, visit slate.com/howtoplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The How To! hosts love helping listeners find the answers they need. But sometimes a host needs help, too. On this episode, Courtney Martin and her brother, Chris, open up about how their father's dementia has led them to upend their own lives in order to become his caregivers. To help Courtney and Chris talk through what comes next, Carvell Wallace welcomes Dr. Allison Applebaum, whose book Stand by Me chronicles her own caregiving journey and her work at Memorial Sloan Kettering's Caregivers Clinic.  If you liked this episode check out: How To Help a Loved One With Dementia and How To Make Aging Easier for Everyone Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at howto@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen. How To's executive producer is Derek John. Joel Meyer is our senior editor/producer. The show is produced by Rosemary Belson, with Kevin Bendis and Sara McCrae. Want more How To!? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the How To! show page. Or, visit slate.com/howtoplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The How To! hosts love helping listeners find the answers they need. But sometimes a host needs help, too. On this episode, Courtney Martin and her brother, Chris, open up about how their father's dementia has led them to upend their own lives in order to become his caregivers. To help Courtney and Chris talk through what comes next, Carvell Wallace welcomes Dr. Allison Applebaum, whose book Stand by Me chronicles her own caregiving journey and her work at Memorial Sloan Kettering's Caregivers Clinic.  If you liked this episode check out: How To Help a Loved One With Dementia and How To Make Aging Easier for Everyone Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at howto@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen. How To's executive producer is Derek John. Joel Meyer is our senior editor/producer. The show is produced by Rosemary Belson, with Kevin Bendis and Sara McCrae. Want more How To!? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the How To! show page. Or, visit slate.com/howtoplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Sanjay Patel of Weill Cornell and Dr. Greg Goldgof of Memorial Sloan Kettering dive into the transformative role of AI in modern pathology. They discuss how large language models are enhancing diagnostic workflows, expediting report synthesis, and shaping the future of patient care. The conversation also touches on the complex training required to ready AI systems for clinical use, the areas of pathology most impacted by AI today, and how this technology is being integrated into the education of future pathologists. Check out Chadi's website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/ Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on YouTube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA

The How To! hosts love helping listeners find the answers they need. But sometimes a host needs help, too. On this episode, Courtney Martin and her brother, Chris, open up about how their father's dementia has led them to upend their own lives in order to become his caregivers. To help Courtney and Chris talk through what comes next, Carvell Wallace welcomes Dr. Allison Applebaum, whose book Stand by Me chronicles her own caregiving journey and her work at Memorial Sloan Kettering's Caregivers Clinic.  If you liked this episode check out: How To Help a Loved One With Dementia and How To Make Aging Easier for Everyone Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at howto@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen. How To's executive producer is Derek John. Joel Meyer is our senior editor/producer. The show is produced by Rosemary Belson, with Kevin Bendis and Sara McCrae. Want more How To!? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the How To! show page. Or, visit slate.com/howtoplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brooklyn, NYC subways gripes, To Love is to be Brave TED Talk by Kelly Corrigan, Being aggressively present for a friend in need, Our superheroes are present, Superheroes are the people who do things quietly and for the right reasons, In someone's face, The difficulty of being present sometimes, Covid and Milo's treatment limited our friends' ability to be present, There's no reward for small gestures beyond having done a beautiful thing for a friend, Lisa notes the healthy selfishness of certain gestures, Arvydas Sabonis, Domantas Sabonis, Arvydas played for the Trailblazers, Domantas played for Gonzaga, the Pacers, and now for the Sacramento Kings, Milo developed deep relationships with people who helped care for him at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Sabonis was a nickname we gave to a physical therapist who helped Milo after his knee/fibula, tibia surgery AND after his lung surgery, Quiet support and help, Looked like Domantas Sabonis, Alana, Max, and I remember physical therapist named Timmy, Physical therapist in the physical therapy department at Memorial Sloan Kettering (attended Northeastern), Nurse Jenni was so important to Milo, Jenni would seek out Milo and we think Milo had a crush on her, Jenni was amazing, Milo was thrilled to have Jenni on his team, Nurse Littlepage was also wonderful with Milo, Biggest differences made by some of the least appreciated, least well-paid people, Dr. Adam Levy was a wonderful adviser at Montefiore, Dr. Julia Glade-Bender was a wonderful doctor and supprt, Timmy, Jenni, Sabonis, Nurse Littlepage, How much is a public school teacher worth in your life, Choosing to be a nurse in the pediatric department at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Incredible people only, Deeply underappreciated, undercompensated, and undervalued, What does it mean to say a person is successful?, Who are more important than nurses and teachers, This is a way to say thank you to some of those people       

Dr. Doris Ponce from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center delves into atypical presentations of chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD). As an associate member, co-chair of the Center for Hematologic Malignancies, and director of the Graft-Versus-Host Disease Program, Dr. Ponce provides an in-depth understanding of this complex condition.Dr. Ponce emphasizes the diverse symptoms of GVHD that often overlap with other conditions, making diagnosis challenging. She outlines the eight organs typically affected by GVHD: skin, mouth, eyes, musculoskeletal, genitourinary, lungs, liver, and gastrointestinal tract. However, she highlights that GVHD can also present atypically in organs such as the kidneys, nervous system, muscles, heart, and pancreas, causing symptoms such as serositis, effusions, nephrotic syndrome, and autoimmune disorders like vitiligo.Atypical presentations of GVHD are rare and require exclusion of other conditions such as drug side effects or infections before diagnosis. Dr. Ponce stresses the importance of patients communicating any new or unusual symptoms with their clinicians, as these might not initially seem connected to GVHD.Focusing on skin-related GVHD, Dr. Ponce describes common and atypical manifestations, including tight skin (sclerodermatous changes), pigmentation loss, dryness, and psoriasis-like appearances. Treatment varies but often involves topical steroids or immune suppression tailored to individual symptoms. For daily skincare, she advises avoiding frequent hot showers, using lukewarm water, and selecting gentle, fragrance-free products to prevent skin irritation.Regarding sun exposure, Dr. Ponce recommends using broad-spectrum sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher, and wearing protective clothing to prevent rashes exacerbated by sunlight. She also discusses the use of chemical and mineral sunscreens, noting that mineral sunscreens, despite being thicker, are better suited for sensitive skin.Peggy and Dr. Ponce discuss the Long Good Feel Better program that the American Cancer Society provides. For patients wanting to wear makeup, Dr. Ponce suggests choosing products designed for sensitive skin, avoiding those with harsh ingredients or multiple components, and replacing makeup regularly to prevent contamination. She also warns against using organic or preservative-free makeup due to infection risks.Haircare after GVHD often involves managing hair loss and changes in texture. Dr. Ponce advises infrequent washing, using gentle products, and considering supplements like biotin. For wigs, she cautions against those requiring glue and suggests alternatives like clip-on wigs or scarves. Hair dyeing is permissible with ammonia-free products.Nail care post-transplant includes using nail hardeners and avoiding acrylic nails. Dr. Ponce also emphasizes checking for underlying issues like vitamin deficiencies that may affect nail health.In closing, Dr. Ponce highlights the holistic approach to patient care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, addressing both medical and psychological aspects to support patients' overall well-being. She encourages patients to communicate any concerns, as seemingly minor symptoms might significantly impact their health and recovery. Dr. Ponce's dedication to improving patients' lives extends beyond treating their conditions, fostering confidence and quality of life throughout their recovery journey.More:Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's Tips for Managing GVHD (created by Dr. Ponce and dermatologist) Dr. Alina Markova:https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/patient-education/tips-managing-graft-versus-host-disease-gvhdAmerican Cancer Society's Look Good Feel Better Program: https://lookgoodfeelbetter.org/Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Website: https://www.mskcc.org/Sally Hansen Nail Hardener: https://www.sallyhansen.com/en-us/nail-care/nail-care/mega-strength-hardenerSurvivor recommended clothing brands that have SPF/UPF clothing:Coolibar: https://www.coolibar.com/Columbia: https://www.columbia.com/c/sun-protection/Baleaf: https://www.baleaf.com/collections/upf50This season is made possible thanks to donations from Syndax and Incyte.https://syndax.com/https://incyte.com/ Follow the nbmtLINK on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/nbmtlink/

Host Dr. Davide Soldato interviews Dr. Sana Raoof to discuss the JCO article Turning the Knobs on Screening Liquid Biopsies for High-Risk Populations: Potential for Dialing Down Invasive Procedures. TRANSCRIPT Dr. Davide Soldato: Hello, and welcome to JCO After Hours, the podcast where we sit down with others from some of the latest articles published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. I am your host, Dr. Davide Soldato, Medical Oncologist at Ospedale San Martino in Genoa, Italy. Today, we are joined by JCO author Dr. Sana Raoof, Physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering, to talk about her article, “Turning the Knobs on Screening Liquid Biopsies for High-Risk Populations: Potential for Dialing Down Invasive Procedures.”   Thank you for joining us today, Dr. Raoof. Dr. Sana Raoof: Thank you so much. It's lovely to be here. Dr. Davide Soldato: So, Dr. Raoof, I just wanted to start a little bit about the theme of your article, which is really centered around multi-cancer early detection tests. And this comes from the results of several studies that showed their reliability and efficacy in identifying cancer in the average risk population. But I just wanted to ask you if you could give us and our readers a brief overview of how these tests work and how they were designed for this specific population. Dr. Sana Raoof: Of course. Well, there's an interesting story. The origin of multi-cancer early detection tests actually begins with insights that come from the field of obstetrics and gynecology. So about six or seven years ago, in the peripheral blood of pregnant women, we discovered that you can actually find fetal DNA floating around. And that was an early discovery of cell free DNA coming from the baby into the mother's bloodstream. But in some of those young, otherwise healthy women, we also discovered that there's another clonal signal, unfortunately not coming from the fetus, but coming from an undiagnosed tumor. And that led to the entire field of circulating tumor DNA and all of its applications.  Of course, scientists in the last six or seven years have harnessed the fact that DNA and the methylation patterns on the circulating tumor DNA, as well as other analytes like glycosaminoglycans, proteins, and other analytes, are secreted by tumors into the peripheral blood in order to try and screen for tumors, hopefully at early stages, when there are still curative, definitive interventions that are available. There's several different tests now that are providing the ability to detect cancers at many stages, including early stages. They're in different phases of preclinical to clinical development, and one is even commercialized and available by prescription in the United States. Dr. Davide Soldato: Okay. So I think that in most of these tests, they really look at the tumor DNA, so they identify mutations or, for example, methylation patterns. But do we also have some tests that integrate some other type of biomarkers that we can identify in the blood? Like, are they integrated all with the others, or are we just relying on circulating tumor DNA? Dr. Sana Raoof: It's a great question. There's a lot of really fascinating biology that different companies predominantly are using in order to find signs of early cancer. One of the analytes that I find really interesting, other than looking for small variants in circulating tumor DNA and looking at methylation patterns, as you mentioned, is looking at fragment length. So, for example, the company DELFI looks at the different patterns of the length of DNA fragments that are floating around in the peripheral blood. And not only is fragment length tissue specific, so in theory, a fragmentomics based multi-cancer early detection test could tell us what is the tissue that this aberrant signal is coming from, but they can also tell you if there's likely a cancer present, because there's a difference in fragment length patterns in cancer versus non cancer.  There are also other analytes. I mentioned glycosaminoglycan. There's another company that doesn't yet have prospective data, to my knowledge, that is making a test that looks at these analytes instead. There are other companies, again, without prospective data yet, that are looking at circulating tumor cells. And I'm sure that in the next few years, we're going to start getting prospective data from all of these players and also hear about other analytes that scientists have found can predict cancer from non cancer and maybe even protect tissue of origin based on artificial intelligence. Dr. Davide Soldato: So you mentioned artificial intelligence. So, basically what you're suggesting, but correct me if I'm wrong, is that when we use this test, we are actually measuring something in the bloodstream, but at the same time, we are actually applying some type of artificial intelligence to actually interpret these results and then give us the definitive results, or what we would call like a positive and a negative of the tests, is that right? Dr. Sana Raoof: Yeah, absolutely. And it's an important distinction that you're making, we are measuring something in the blood, but we're not just measuring it. We're using machine learning algorithms that have been trained on thousands and thousands of patients with cancer and thousands and thousands of patients without cancer, and have measured various analytes and analyzed the patterns, for example, of DNA sequence, or bisulfite sequencing of methylation patterns of patients with and without cancer, and have been trained to look for the differences between them. And so the analyte that we're looking for is not a specific mutation per se, but is a pattern that looks like patterns that you typically find more so in cancer patients.   There's many different companies, they are trained on different types of cancer. So some companies, like GRAIL, have a test that looks for a very expanded list of over 50 cancer types. Other tests have a narrower focus and were trained and validated on a smaller list of cancer types. So there's just a great diversity in this space. These tests are trained to look for different types of cancer. They're trained and validated on different populations of interest. So, for example, some of the populations that these tests were trained on are predominantly white, and that will have impacts, potentially on how these tests perform in non-white populations. And that's a really interesting area of future research. These tests may or may not have included cancer survivors in their populations, and that could ultimately impact how these tests perform in those populations.  So there's just so much to learn, so much data that's going to be coming out in the next few years from all of these different key players in the multi-cancer early detection space. But one thing that I'm sure of is between all of the different analytes, all of the different training and validation studies, and all of the different prospective studies, we're going to learn a tremendous amount about the potential clinical utility of using multi-cancer early detection tests to complement the few standard of care surveillance cancer screening tests that we have recommended today. Dr. Davide Soldato: So just taking a step back and going back to the fact that we actually use machine learning algorithms to identify a pattern that can give us an idea of whether cancer is present or not, I believe that there is also some room for calibration of these types of tests. And I think that this is one of the key arguments that you make in your paper where you say that we can actually personalize a little bit more these types of tests to understand and then to decide what we are looking for. Is that correct and can you expand a little bit on that? Dr.Sana Raoof: Yeah, absolutely. This is the central concept of the paper that we're discussing. Because these tests are machine learning based, as I said, they're trained to say cancer versus not cancer, and some of them are further trained to say, coming from this organ or coming from that organ. But what does it mean to say cancer or not cancer? There are specific thresholds that are defined to say, above this threshold of signal detection, we're going to say this is a positive cancer signal detected, and below it we're going to say negative. And so right now, these tests are kind of designed to have this binary output, and the concept that I wanted to put forth in the paper is it doesn't necessarily have to be binary, and the thresholds don't have to be static. So, for example, you can imagine that in an average risk population where the pretest probability of cancer in your lifetime for Americans, it's pretty high, roughly 40% for lifetime. But at any given moment in time when you're getting a test, it's lower. For example, in Americans, 50 to 80, the chance of having cancer at any given moment is just under 3%. So you don't necessarily want a test that is very nonspecific, you don't necessarily want to tell a lot of perfectly healthy people that are asymptomatic screening populations that they have cancer if they don't. And so these tests were designed to have very high specificity, predominantly across the board, across the different companies making them at the cost of, in some cases, having lower or moderate sensitivity in early stages.   And it's important to keep in the back of your mind that we cannot ever expect the types of early stage sensitivities from multi-cancer early detection tests that we're used to thinking about for single cancer screens that are just optimized for one single organ. They work in a completely different way. So I don't expect a future where the sensitivity of a mammogram, which is only for breast cancer, is going to be analogous to the sensitivity of a blood-based test that's looking for all cancers in your entire body. I don't think it's fair to expect that. But I do think it's possible to imagine a future where we do change the thresholding of these tests that were trained and validated in average risk screening populations, and say, “Let's turn the knob on the dial and let's take the sensitivity a little bit higher, even if it means the specificity drops from 99%, for example, which is the very high number of the gallery test, down to 98%, down to 97%. Let's see how this affects the positive predictive value and the negative predictive value of the test.” And how having a higher negative predictive value by having a higher sensitivity may or may not make it more clinically useful for higher risk populations that have higher pretest probabilities, in which case we are kind of more interested in being sure that we're ruling out cancer.  Another concept that I talk about in the paper, aside from just turning the knobs, is to make it a continuous variable rather than a binary report. Rather than saying signal detected or not signal detected, I can also imagine a future where we personalize the output of multi-cancer early detection tests to return a score, for example, from 1 to 100 or 1 to 10, and give physicians the ability to use that continuous variable in addition with other clinical findings, physical exam findings, other labs, symptoms, patient's past medical history, family history, all of that together to make decisions about should we pursue further workup, should we do an invasive biopsy. This is kind of the way that we use other scoring tests in oncology, like the oncotype tests for breast cancer, decipher test in prostate cancer. And I think physicians like having continuous variables to work with and to help them make very personal decisions for patients' diagnostic workups. Dr. Davide Soldato: To summarize a little bit, what you're arguing in the paper is that we could potentially modify a little bit these tests as they fit the type of population that we are looking for. For example, if we are looking at the average risk person in America, there we just want to be sure that we are just doing additional workout and additional follow ups and additional invasive procedure, for example, biopsy, when we have a very high probability of finding that cancer. At the same time, if we have someone who has a baseline risk which is higher, like cancer survivors, in that case, we are more interested in seeing if there is really cancer at that point, and so we can increase the sensitivity and go down on specificity, but still looking at the overall outcome that we want to have for that specific patient.  One thing that I was wondering is, do you also see a future where we personalize a little bit more also including additional information that comes from risk factors, environmental or behavioral patterns, type of diet, or these types of risk factors that we already know from epidemiology are associated with a higher risk? So could we potentially customize this test even more, saying, this patient has a higher risk of developing colorectal cancer, so could we look more specifically to that specific cancer type and that specific risk compared to tobacco associated cancers, that for that specific patient, they are not so relevant?  Dr. Sana Raoof: What you're saying is actually a fascinating and really compelling idea, and it reminds me of the way that noninvasive prenatal testing works. So, again, back to the world of obstetrics and gynecology, you have a woman at the end of her first trimester having fetal DNA testing to look for chromosomal abnormalities. And when you order that test, you actually do put in various features about the woman to help you understand her baseline risk for carrying a fetus that has chromosomal abnormalities, including her age, the status of her other children, and other things in order to help you calculate a pretest probability. And so after that, the non invasive prenatal test takes that into consideration and returns a probability of carrying a fetus that might have those aberrations, and it's not a binary risk. It's, as I said, a continuous variable. So I think what you're proposing actually goes beyond what I wrote about in the article. I think it's a fabulous idea. And I think that in the near future, I can imagine that as natural language processing is exploding, and in general, large language models and the ability to extract features about a patient from the EMR are exploding, we might have a better stratification in general of patients into average risk, low risk, high risk, and really high risk, using EMR data, using real world data that could help us feed a really accurate picture of a patient's pre-test probability into this test, so that these tests could be further refined and further trained and validated on patients, taking into consideration more factors and help us improve the predictive power of the tests as they're returned in a report to the physician. So I think maybe you should even write an article about the idea just proposed. It's a great idea. Dr. Davide Soldato: So another aspect that I was really interested in is I've looked at one of the papers that you cited, and I wanted to discuss this with you as you are an expert on the topic. In one of the articles that you cited that used this type of test, they identified some of the cancers that we also normally identified with standard screening procedures, like breast or lung or colorectal. So for those cancers, we add a certain proportion, or like, for example, for breast cancer, a higher proportion identified with conventional screening. But still we had some other cancer that eluded those types of screening and were identified using liquid biopsy tools. So do you envision a strategy where we would use the screening methods that we already add as a complement to those liquid biopsies, or do you think that someday liquid biopsy could potentially completely substitute standard screening procedures?  Dr. Sana Raoof: I think we're too far from a day where liquid biopsies are going to replace standard of care screens. The scope scans and smears that the United States Preventive Services Task Force has recommended are gold standard screening interventions because, number one, for all of them, except for cervical cancer screening, we have randomized data with definitive endpoints that tell us that there are mortality benefits from doing those screens. We don't have that type of data yet from the world of multi-cancer early detection. And as we talked about earlier in this podcast, those tests are kind of designed with a different approach where they have higher sensitivity and much lower specificity than multi-cancer early detection tests.  So I think that the molecular cancer screening companies have done a very careful job of creating tests that are really more optimized to be complementary tests rather than a standalone catch all test, to have higher specificity at the cost of lower sensitivity. So I don't imagine a near future, at least not in my career, where we're going to stop doing colonoscopies and mammograms and pap smears. I don't think that that's going to happen. But I do think that whereas right now 75% of cancers that Americans die from, we lack cancer screening mechanisms for them, I think that that number has the potential to really drop. If in the next few years, one of these multi-cancer early detection tests is ultimately approved and covered, then I think that a lot more cancers could be detected by screening rather than by symptoms, and we might ultimately see a big stage shift.  Dr. Davide Soldato: Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. In the same article that I was mentioning before, there were several of those cancers which can be lethal if diagnosed at an advanced stage, that were diagnosed at an early stage, for example, ovarian cancer, bladder cancer. So I really think that we really have potentially the way to screen, or at least have a signal for cancer that currently we just diagnosed when symptoms associated with higher stage appear.  But moving on to turning the knobs on this type of test, and so going to the higher risk population, for example, cancer survivors, which is something that you speak a lot about in the manuscript. So you also discuss a little bit the question of whether we should use multi-cancer testing versus single cancer testing. So are we looking at a specific recurrence from that specific tumor, or are we looking at a general risk of cancer in a population that has a common risk factor, like tobacco? And so I was wondering if you think, and this is probably just your perception or just your opinion, that that is another way that the physician should turn the knob. Should we evaluate the risk of those cancer survivors and say, in this specific patient right now, the risk of recurrence is higher so I should use or I should be more in favor of a test that is more centered on the risk of recurrence versus I have a general risk of several cancers that could appear, and so should I use something that is more multi-cancer? This, of course, is merely speculative because we still don't have definitive data regarding the efficacy of this test. But it is just your perspective on this type of approach in the near future or not so near future.  Dr. Sana Raoof: Well, I think if we're speculating, then I think that the fantasy situation for any oncologist is that you have two types of liquid biopsies. One is a multi-cancer early detection liquid biopsy. And it would be great if you could select whether you want it to be optimized for highest NPV, negative predictive value, or highest PPV, positive predictive value. And then you also have a host of single cancer screening liquid biopsies that can help you specifically figure out if there's a recurrence of a single cancer type that you're suspicious about.   So, for example, in the article, I talk about how there will be clinical gray areas, and it's not always going to be obvious which test you should reach for. But one example that I think we can all relate to in the oncology community is you have some indeterminate imaging finding, and you don't know what to do about it. So, for example, you have a woman that has a history of breast cancer, has had no evidence of disease for a few years, now, has back pain. You do a spine MRI, you see a lesion. Maybe it's an atypical hemangioma that's causing pain, maybe it's a breast cancer metastasis. You're not sure. What should you do? Should you do a biopsy of that lesion in the spine? Should you wait and see if it grows and do another MRI in two or three months? What are your options? And so in this situation, I think we can all agree that if you had a liquid biopsy that was optimized for really high sensitivity, specifically for breast cancer, and had a very high negative predictive value, and if it came back negative, then in that setting, it might help you avoid an invasive test, like a biopsy in the spine, and give you a little bit more comfort as a physician to say, “You know what? I'm going to come back in two or three months and do another spine MRI. I'm going to see how this woman is feeling, and I don't need to biopsy this right now. Maybe it really is just hemangioma.”  Dr. Davide Soldato: And in this specific setting, let's take the same patient. So it's a female patient, she had a previous diagnosis of breast cancer. Do you think that there is a difference between tumor-informed tests, really based on the molecular aberration that the primary tumor had for these women, versus just a standard test that gives us information regarding the presence of breast cancer cells or not? And if you think that there is a difference, what would you think would be the advantage of one? And the disadvantages, for example, is a tumor informed essay more complex to obtain? Do we need more time? Is it more expensive versus a commercial test that is already available or something like this? This is my understanding as someone who's not so much in the topic, but I think that this is a point that many oncologists probably wonder about, and probably we should speak a little bit more about with someone who is an expert on the topic.  Dr. Sana Raoof: Absolutely. And I think that you've actually hit all of the major points on the head. So comparing a tumor informed versus a tumor agnostic test is like really comparing apples and oranges. A tumor informed test where you're starting with a patient's pathology and you are looking specifically for mutations and other molecular features that you know the patient has in their tumor, is going to, of course, result in a test that is, number one, more expensive and harder to make, but also, number two, more sensitive, more specific, more predictive, and in every way probably just more powerful than a test that is, in general, optimized for a single cancer type, but is almost certainly going to be trained and validated on people with a mix of histologies, a mix of molecular features, and will not be as sensitive or specific as a test that is actually informed by that single individual's tumor. One of the things that matters a lot to me is health equity in oncology. There are just huge disparities in outcomes in patients that are advantaged and disadvantaged. And it stems from lots of different things. In no small part, it stems from later stages of diagnosis in disadvantaged patients, and then even once you have a diagnosis, delays to confirmatory workup, delays to starting treatment, disparities in the treatments offered.  I don't imagine a world where everyone on earth is going to have access to tumor-informed liquid biopsies. I do imagine a future where tumor agnostic liquid biopsies, both for single and multi-cancer screening, should be a lot more economical than they are now, and should be more available for multiple cancer types, and should be more available to patients that aren't at just the Memorial Sloan Ketterings and the Dana-Farbers of the world. And so I do think that those types of off the shelf tests have the potential to really revolutionize the way that we work up suspicion of cancer, not just in advantaged patients, but also in patients that are diverse, in patients that are not at academic cancer centers, but at other cancer centers around the world. And I think it's a really exciting prospect.   Thinking about the chance of recurrence in the breast cancer patient is a perfect example of when you want to test that is optimized just for breast cancer, because you see something in the spine, you know her history, and you're less worried about a new primary and a new MET from that primary. But there are other situations that are also interesting to consider. For example, patients that have had lung cancer and have a history of smoking, because they've had a history of smoking, they're actually at risk for a dozen different cancers, not just lung cancer. And when you think about what we do to follow lung cancer survivors, we're just doing CTs of their chest and of course, physical exams. But the vast majority of cancers that people with lung cancer history will get may not be present in the field of view of a CT of the chest. They may also get renal cancer, bladder cancer, they might get leukemias, they might get pancreatic cancer. So there are a lot of things that you're not going to catch in a CT of the chest. And so in that situation, you care not only about recurrences, which in thoracic oncology, it's kind of a gaussian probability distribution, where the tail is almost close to 0 after five years, but also a uniform distribution of roughly 3% per year of a second cancer, a new primary cancer that goes on for the rest of their life. And so in that clinical setting, you can imagine that having an off the shelf multi-cancer early detection test may be dialed up for higher negative predictive value, would be extremely useful. Dr. Davide Soldato: Yeah, I totally agree, but thank you for clarifying these points, because I think that there is a little bit of confusion also in the oncology community, as this type of tests, they're also based on very complicated molecular biology, sometimes could be potentially integrated, and we could potentially integrate them in the clinic.  And so I wanted to close up with kind of a personal question. I was wondering how you came to be so interested in this field of molecular screening or early diagnosis and prevention associated with molecular data.  Dr. Sana Raoof: Well, it's an interesting story. I did my MD PhD at Harvard Medical School, and my PhD was in the opposite world from molecular cancer screening. I was designing drug combinations that could be used in advanced oncogene mutant lung cancers. And I thought I would become a medical oncologist and spend my life designing new systemic therapies for advanced malignancies. And what I saw every day in the lab during my PhD is drug resistance emerges and it's a process of evolution by natural selection happening on a cellular level. And although we have some really great slam dunk drugs that come to mind, for example EGFR inhibitors in certain lung cancers, immunotherapy in melanoma, on average, the median overall survival gain from all of the FDA approved drugs in the last 10 years is roughly two months.   By the end of my PhD, I really started feeling like, is the best use of my life to continue fighting a battle against natural selection in cancer cells, or is it a better strategy, to me, it seemed like a more sensical strategy to just try and find cancers in these patients earlier, when you don't have to engage with the complex signaling mechanisms of a cancer cells biology, and instead can just provide a definitive local intervention, like surgery or radiation, which already is curing many patients with non metastatic cancers. And as I looked around the world, I just didn't see that many people investing heavily in early detection research at the time. It was the very early days of multi-cancer early detection. And so I became involved with all of the groups, the companies, the organizations that were developing these tests, and really fell in love with, number one, just the concept of the tests, the concept of multi-cancer early detection, rather than single cancer screening alone, because no one knows what cancer they're ultimately going to get. But I also really fell in love with methylation biology, fragmentomics. I fell in love with the types of clinical trials that were being designed and the new types of endpoints that we have to think about when we're designing clinical trials for a multiverse of single cancer screening. And it's just such an exciting time in that community, it's the early days. So that's how I came to this space, and it's just the perfect time to be in this space, because everything is exploding.  Dr. Davide Soldato: Thank you very much. And thank you also for sharing the personal side of the story. Dr. Sana Raoof: Thank you so much. I'd like to thank Razelle Kurzrock, who's an amazing medical oncologist who's worked with me on two really fun papers so far, one on real world data, and this one on turning the knobs on liquid biopsies. It's always great to bounce ideas around about multi-cancer early detection with friends and collaborators, and Razelle did an absolutely amazing job helping write this piece.  Dr. Davide Soldato: So this brings us to the end of the episode. Thank you Dr. Raoof, for joining us and sharing more on your JCO article titled, ”Turning the Knobs on Screening Liquid Biopsies for High-Risk Populations: Potential for Dialing Down Invasive Procedures.”   If you enjoy our show, please leave us a rating and review, and be sure to come back for another episode.   The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions.   Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement.  Disclosures: Dr. Raoof Stock and Other Ownership Interests Company name: Illumina Radiopharmaceuticals Honoraria Company name: AstraZeneca Consulting or Advisory Role Company name: Verily Company name: GRAIL Company name: Exact Sciences Travel, Accommodations, Expenses Company name: Grail    

Dr. Paul Szabolcs trained at Semmelweis University School of Medicine in Budapest. He completed his residency at Bellevue Hospital/NYU Medical Center and was Chief Fellow at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He completed postdoctoral fellowships at Memorial Sloan Kettering in Molecular Biology and at Rockefeller University in Physiology and Cellular Immunology. He has been Chief of the Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapies division at the UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh since 2011. Dr. Szabolcs has dedicated his career to developing effective “reduced-intensity” chemotherapy regimens for patients in need of a blood or bone marrow transplant, especially children with rare immune-system defects and degenerative brain diseases.

Send us a Text Message.In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Aaron Mitchell about his recent research on pharmaceutical industry payments to medical doctors for promoting specific drugs on X (formerly known as Twitter). Dr. Mitchell describes the financial relationships between pharmaceutical companies and doctors, the prevalence of this issue, and what is known about its impact on prescribing practices and patient outcomes. He also shares his thoughts on direct-to-consumer drug advertisements and offers solutions to mitigate the massive influence of pharmaceutical companies on our health system.Dr. Mitchell is an oncologist and health services researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC, with a research focus on the interaction between financial incentives and physician behavior. You can learn more about him and his work here. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or X.On Youtube.Or TikTok.SUBSCRIBE to her monthly newsletter here.Support the Show.

In this episode, host Shikha Jain, MD, speaks with Komal Jhaveri, MD, about breakthroughs in breast cancer treatment, where the field is evolving with anti-body drug conjugates and more. •    Welcome to another exciting episode of Oncology Overdrive 1:17 •    About Jhaveri 1:21 •    The interview 1:41 •    How did you get into this highly specialized field? […] How did you become a breast oncologist and find yourself at Memorial Sloan Kettering?  2:07 •    As a breast oncologist, what has really excited you in the breast cancer space over the last decade?  5:02 •    What do you think is going to happen in the next five to twenty years? Where do you think breast cancer treatment is going to evolve?  13:44 •    Do you think AI is going to have a big impact on how we treat patients? 17:47 •    If someone could only listen to the last minute of this episode, what would you want them to take away? 19:52 •    How to contact Jhaveri 20:34 •    Thanks for listening 21:32 Komal Jhaveri, MD, is a breast oncologist & early drug development specialist, clinical director of the early drug development service, and section head of the endocrine therapy research program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). We'd love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Jain at oncologyoverdrive@healio.com. Follow Healio on X and LinkedIn: @HemOncToday and https://www.linkedin.com/company/hemonctoday/. Follow Dr. Jain on X: @ShikhaJainMD. Jhaveri can be reached at her office 646-888-5157, or via email jhaverik@mskcc.org.  Disclosures: Jain reports no relevant financial disclosures. Jhaveri reports she is the principal investigator for Genentech's INAVO120 trial at MSK and co-chair globally.

Meet Dan McNamee, who is originally from Cleveland but now resides in beautiful Paris. He was going about his life, starting a new family with his wife when he started experiencing pain in his left leg. This led him to visit the emergency department, where they discovered a blood clot. Further testing revealed a tumor on Daniel's pancreas. Although he was living in Paris at the time, he wanted to be with his family, especially since all of his siblings have careers in the medical world. He decided to undergo treatment in his hometown of Cleveland, where he and his young family lived with his mother and had the support of his family. He discussed the importance of having that support system during his treatment, recalling the times people around him stepped up to care for his children. He also credited his sister with helping him find the clinical trials that ultimately helped him beat pancreatic cancer. Daniel was able to receive clinical trials at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City, so he commuted from both Ohio and later Paris to receive his clinical trial medications. Daniel also discussed the differences between the two different healthcare systems he dealt with during his battle with pancreatic cancer. Living in Paris upon diagnosis and then coming back to the U.S., he noticed the significant increases in the prices of medications and the improved access to clinical trials and newer methods of treatment. He has a unique perspective on the healthcare side of things. During a stay at a hotel in New York City for his treatment, he was in town during the New York City Marathon, where he ran into people in purple singlets, Project Purple runners. He asked them about their cause and was surprised to learn of the organization as he was currently battling pancreatic cancer. He decided to run as part of Project Purple's NYC Marathon team after he completed his treatments. As of a month ago, he received news that he was in complete remission, with clean scans a year after stopping all treatments. He discussed his choice to run for Project Purple and his training cycle as someone who is not a seasoned marathon competitor. Join us for this optimistic and informative episode of the Project Purple Podcast to learn more about Dan's fight against pancreatic cancer. If you'd like to donate to Project Purple's mission of a world without pancreatic cancer, please visit https://www.projectpurple.org/. To connect with Daniel, you can follow him on Instagram: instagram.com/danmcnamee1 Or you could reach out to him directly via email: danmcnamee@gmail.com To learn more about Project Purple, visit https://www.projectpurple.org/ or follow us on social media at these links: https://www.facebook.com/Run4ProjectPurple https://www.instagram.com/projectpurple/ https://twitter.com/Run4Purple https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgA8nVhUY6_MLj5z3rnDQZQ

Summary Dr. Ralph Moss, a renowned science writer and cancer researcher, shares his journey and insights in this conversation. He discusses his controversial time at Memorial Sloan Kettering and his decision to reveal suppressed information in the field of cancer. Dr. Moss also talks about the evolution of the Moss Reports, his comprehensive guides on cancer treatments. He shares his personal experience with prostate cancer and the importance of integrative approaches. Finally, he introduces the Moss Method, a unique approach to cancer treatment that combines various strategies. In this conversation, Dr. Ralph W. Moss discusses the potential of immunotherapy as a cure for cancer and the importance of targeting cancer stem cells. He explores the concept of cancer stem cells and the ongoing debate about their nature. Dr. Moss suggests utilizing plant chemicals to target cancer stem cells and highlights the need for personalized treatment. He emphasizes the importance of combining conventional and complementary medicine and discusses the resources available through the MOSS Method and the MOSS Report website. Episode References: ►The Moss Report: https://www.themossreport.com/ ► Website: https://www.drnasha.com/ ► Terrain Advocate Program: https://tap.terrain.network/ ► Practitioner Program: https://matc.terrain.network/ ► Find a Doctor: https://my.terrain.network/ ► Dr. Nasha Products: https://www.drnashaapproved.com/ ► The Metabolic Approach to Cancer: https://a.co/d/44kHGOS ► Podcast: https://metabolicmatters.org/ ► Instagram: / drnashawinters Takeaways Dr. Ralph Moss played a pivotal role in revealing suppressed information in the field of cancer during his time at Memorial Sloan Kettering. The Moss Reports are comprehensive guides on cancer treatments that have evolved over the years to provide valuable information to patients and practitioners. Integrative approaches that combine standard of care treatments with complementary therapies can enhance the effectiveness and reduce the toxicity of cancer treatments. Dr. Moss's personal experience with prostate cancer highlights the importance of individualized treatment and the potential of innovative therapies like cryoablation. Immunotherapy has shown promise as a potential cure for cancer, with long-term survivors achieving remission using this approach. The concept of cancer stem cells is a topic of ongoing research and debate, with the potential to be a key driver of cancer development. Plant chemicals, such as phytochemicals, can be used to target cancer stem cells and address their markers. The MOSS Method emphasizes the importance of personalized treatment and the integration of conventional and complementary medicine. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Dr. Ralph Moss 03:17 Controversy at Memorial Sloan Kettering 06:13 Fired from Sloan Kettering 09:23 Questioning Chemotherapy 13:05 The Evolution of the Moss Reports 15:15 The Importance of Integrative Approaches 19:43 The Moss Reports Today 25:52 Dr. Moss's Personal Cancer Journey 35:56 The Impact of Personal Experience 43:28 The Moss Method 45:27 Immunotherapy as a Potential Cure for Cancer 46:24 The Concept of Cancer Stem Cells 47:20 The Debate on the Nature of Cancer Stem Cells 48:21 Utilizing Plant Chemicals to Target Cancer Stem Cells 49:21 The Complexity of Targeting Cancer Stem Cells 50:17 Maximizing the Effectiveness of Phytochemicals 51:06 Remaining Neutral on Conventional Therapy 51:52 Discussing the Morse Method with Physicians 52:50 The Primary Audience for the Morse Method 54:21 Limiting Recommendations to Foods and Food-Derived Factors 55:50 The Importance of the Mediterranean Diet 56:49 Addressing Immune System and Metabolism with Self-Help Measures 57:47 Addressing the Hallmarks of Cancer with Plant Chemicals 59:42 The Synergy Between Conventional and Complementary Medicine 01:01:33 Evaluating Unconventional Cancer Treatment Centers 01:03:27 Creating Video Content on Clinics and Practitioners 01:05:29 Demystifying the Experience of Visiting Clinics 01:08:40 Accessing Content on YouTube and the MOSS Report Website 01:11:50 The Progress and Breakthroughs in Cancer Treatment 01:17:38 Demanding Integrative Oncology and Personalized Treatment

Dr. Diane Reidy-Lagunes is a top NYC Oncologist from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She is the creator and host of the award-winning monthly podcast Cancer Straight Talk from MSKCC where she leans in and tackles the subject of cancer head on, in English and Spanish. A noted clinical investigator, Diane served previously as President of MSK's Medical Staff. She currently serves as Vice Chair in the Department of Medicine. During the COVID crisis in NYC, she served as Chief of Clinical Care as part of the Hospital Incident Command System. As a researcher, she focuses on developing treatments of gastrointestinal (GI) tumors. She is a member of the National Cancer Institute Taskforce and a member of the National Cancer Care Network Guidelines. She is the recipient of several honors, including the Paul Sherlock Teaching Award, Castle Connolly Top Doctors, and the American Cancer Society Mother of the Year Award. In addition, Diane maintains a high-volume GI Oncology clinic.You can find her podcast Cancer Straight Talk at https://www.mskcc.org/cancerstraighttalk. This episode is part of a special series in collaboration between The Fiftyfaces Podcast at fiftyfaceshub.com and The Mindshare Podcast at www.monumentalme.com/podcast. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mindshare/support

The first of its kind cancer center is opening in Fairfield thanks to a major healthcare partnership. Hartford HealthCare and Memorial Sloan Kettering are opening a new facility, still under construction, to bring the highest quality care for cancer patients in southern Connecticut. The plan also calls for a dedicated cancer unit at St. Vincent's Medical Center. We spoke with Kristi Gafford and Dr. Valerie Brutus about the announcement. Gafford is the senior vice president of Operations at HHC and Dr. Brutus is a HHC Cancer Institute breast surgeon. Image Credit: Getty Images

VP of Access Services at New York-based Memorial Sloan Kettering, Kelly Turner, MHA, discusses the pivotal role that she and her team are playing in the post-pandemic recovery of one of the nation's most prestigious cancer centers. Kelly and Elizabeth discuss the opportunities for ambulatory access to improve volume by elevating the role, reducing barriers – and focusing on the patient.

In this episode, podcast host Chloe Harrouche engages in an insightful conversation with Dr. Elizabeth Comen (@drelizabethcomen), a distinguished breast cancer oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering, and the author of the book “All In Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women's Bodies and Why It Matters Today.” The discussion traverses personal experiences, professional insights, and the evolving landscape of women's healthcare. Dr. Comen shares her journey of combining her expertise as an oncologist with her passion for understanding the broader context of medicine, rooted in her academic background in the history of medicine and science. She reflects on the profound impact of societal, cultural, and historical factors on women's health, particularly in the realm of breast cancer and beyond. Chloe and Dr. Comen navigate through various topics, including the challenges facing the wellness industry, the significance of primary care, and the misaligned incentives that hinder access to quality care. Relevant Links: ⁠Chloe's Founding Story⁠ Chapters:  Introduction 00:45  Personal and Professional Background 02:35  Research and Shocking Insights 3:50  Impact on Medical Practice and Specialization 06:00 Wellness Industry and Medical System 10:00 Value of Primary Care 12:30  Educating Physicians and Empowering Patients 17:20  Women's Health Concerns and Wellness 20:20 Breast Cancer Diagnosis Trends and Environmental Factors 25:00 Survivorship Challenges and Hormonal Health: 26:00 Conclusion 30:00  Subscribe to Get Well, Better. Leave a review and follow along ⁠⁠⁠@the.lanby⁠⁠⁠. Visit ⁠⁠⁠The Lanby⁠⁠⁠ today and book a consultation. Watch the Show ⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠ Produced by ⁠⁠Haynow Media

We get into the fascinating history of women's health with Dr. Elizabeth Comen, an oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering and the author of All in Her Head. Plus, if your friend wanted to get back with an ex, would you weigh in with your opinion? Tell us: hello@thebrightsidepodcast.com. At the end of the episode, Danielle and Simone discuss the  importance of having each others' backs in the workplace.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Much of what we know about women's bodies and health has come from men. Their points of view have helped shape the way we feel about our bodies—and the kind of medical attention we receive. Our “normal” bodily functions—as well as our pain, pleasure, strength, and intellectual capacity—have been based on an overwhelmingly male narrative uninformed by women's own voices, and often used to shame and subjugate us. The result is a cultural and societal legacy that continues to shape our health and care, despite recent advances that challenge it. In ALL IN HER HEAD: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women's Bodies and Why It Matters Today (Harper Wave; on-sale February 13; ISBN: 9780063293014; 448 pages), medical historian and Memorial Sloan Kettering oncologist Elizabeth Comen, M.D. unpacks this legacy and reframes the conversation to empower women. Comen shines a light on the female medicalized body and illuminates the myths and blind spots we've unwittingly inherited through generations. She takes readers back in time to meet the legendary—and sometimes infamous—doctors who shaped the field of medicine, as well as the patients they cared for (or in some cases, didn't.) Comen explores the sanitariums of 18th century Europe, the anatomy labs of Victorian New York City, the makeshift hospitals of the Antebellum South. She connects the dots to show how a legacy of ignorance, indifference, oppression, and subjugation toward women's medical issues commands women's medical present.

Dr. Elizabeth Comen has dedicated her medical career to saving the lives of women. She's a Memorial Sloan Kettering oncologist, a medical historian, and the author of “All in Her Head — The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women's Bodies and Why it Matters Today.”In this episode, Mary Alice and Dr. Aliabadi get a crash course in the problematic history that has shaped women's healthcare, from the catch-all-diagnosis of hysteria that persisted into the early 20th century to the “bikini medicine” keeping women's healthcare limited today. Dr. Comen dives into the shift from midwifery to gynecology, as women healers became scrutinized for witchcraft and men paved the way for modern obstetrics. She shares findings from her extensive research, including how the desire to control women's sexuality historically led to outrageous medical beliefs like the idea that scoliosis was caused by masturbation. Dr. Comen and Dr. Aliabadi discuss gender bias as it pertains to female physicians and feminine nurturing in medicine, and the shame they observe in patients who aren't comfortable sharing symptoms and apologize for natural bodily responses, even in their final moments.Women's issues in medicine are typically underfunded, under-researched, and often misdiagnosed. Dr. Comen discusses the root cause of societal stigmas and lingering ignorance that shape women's healthcare and our relationships with our own bodies. Don't miss this fascinating episode of SHE MD.What if you could do more to understand your risk of breast cancer? Go to https://myriad.ws/getmyrisk to help identify cancer risks and empower your provider to take action for your health.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Elon Musk took a brief surprise meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, securing tentative approval for self-driving Teslas in China. America's college campuses are divided over the Israel-Hamas war and the U.S. involvement in it; former SEC Chairman and Ivy League educator Jay Clayton discusses the sentiment among activists and young people across the country. Retired real estate developer Bruce Ratner issues a warning for his industry. The man behind the redeveloped Times Square and Downtown Brooklyn is also on the board of Memorial Sloan Kettering, and he's pushing for early cancer detection in his new book. Plus, regulators seized Republic First Bank in the first bank failure of 2024, and journalists are catching up on the jokes from this weekend's White House correspondents' dinner.   Jay Clayton - 12:23Bruce Ratner - 23:19 In this episode:Joe Kernen, @JoeSquawkBecky Quick, @BeckyQuickAndrew Ross Sorkin, @andrewrsorkinKatie Kramer, @Kramer_Katie

Former President Donald Trump is currently engaged in a legal battle in New York City. The focus of the case is a confidential payment made in 2016 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Last year in April, Trump issued a plea of innocence in response to an indictment composed of 34 counts. The indictment alleged that Trump had constructed misleading business records in relation to a discreet payment to Daniels. This payment, allegedly made by Trump's then-attorney Michael Cohen, was intended to bolster Trump's potential for securing the presidency during the 2016 election. The length of the trial is projected to span between 6 to 8 weeks, with the process to select the jury lasting as much as two weeks. Six individuals, all hailing from a diverse variety of backgrounds reflective of New York City's vibrant population, have been chosen to carry out the task of jurors in Trump's case. Their personal details have not been made public due to safety reasons. The first juror, an Irish immigrant and seasoned sales professional, currently resides in West Harlem. His choice of news outlets includes respected sources like the New York Times, Daily Mail, Fox News, and MSNBC. Juror number two is a dedicated oncology nurse working at Memorial Sloan Kettering. She is also a passionate pet owner who relishes strolls in the park with her dog, relying on platforms like The New York Times, CNN, Google, and Facebook for news.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Founded in 2017, Paige is a digital pathology software provider that uses AI to improve cancer diagnoses. Paige was the first ever company to earn FDA approval for an AI-based product, and they are currently collaborating with Microsoft to build the world's largest image-based AI cancer model. In this episode, Dr. Moye and I discuss Paige's origin as a spin-out from Memorial Sloan Kettering, the role of AI in supporting cancer diagnostics, the process of navigating corporate partnerships and FDA approval with AI tools, and the value of new AI applications in healthcare.

In April of 2023 Vickie Stevens and Don McCarthy's little son Rio was experiencing a loss of appetite, limping instead of walking, and losing energy. After a stay at a local hospital did not solve the question of what was wrong with Rio, he was transferred to a large hospital in London and was finally diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma. Rio is now into his 8th month of treatment  and the hope is that he will at some point be able to travel to Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York to take a drug that has proven to be highly successful in treating Rio's form of Neuroblastoma . Vickie and Don will also talk about the organization Solving Kids Cancer which has proven to be very helpful for their family and many others in England.  www.solvingkidscancer.org.uk/children/rio+1

Upper West Side of Manhattan, Episode called "Max," Focus on Max, Talking about Milo makes us happier, Hearing about Milo or speaking about Milo makes us feel close to him,  Artistic inspiration, "Max" episode was the result of conversations over weeks, Conversations with The Compassionate Friends, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Alana, Max's loss from the perspective of a parent, Max suffered a much more long-term loss, Lisa learning to understand, Feeling more gratitude and appreciation for what we have when we have it, Nothing is assumed or fair, Lisa giving voice to others in the Milo Time audience, Lisa's struggle is the audience's struggle as well, The idea of saying something that could cause pain can feel paralyzing and terrifying, Paralysis causes retreat, More difficult for missteps to be misread if the "vibe" is right, Appreciating the depth, ubiquity, and permanence of loss, Billy Bob Thornton 50% sad, The loss is constantly tapping us on the shoulder, Indian Wells tennis tournament, The new Daryl and Alana went to the tennis tournament, Watching Milo's favorites is difficult, Watching players Milo didn't know well is also difficult, Not having Lisa on "Max" felt like something was missing, Sleep is difficult, Share a story of Milo anywhere, any time   

In this episode, we delve deep into the heart of caregiving with the distinguished Dr. Alison Applebaum, a passionate advocate for caregivers and a beacon of knowledge in psychosocial oncology. Dr. Applebaum spearheads the Caregivers Clinic at Memorial Sloan Kettering and is an associate professor at Weill Cornell Medical College, where she concentrates her research on vital psychosocial interventions for those tending to cancer patients. Her journey is not only shaped by her professional pursuits but also by her personal role as a caregiver to her father during his fight with Lewy body disease. We're excited to discuss her new book, "Stand by Me," which mirrors her dual perspective as both an expert and a family caregiver. It's a narrative that resonates with many, infused with poignant tales from her own life and the lives of those she's assisted professionally. In this episode, we unpack the complex emotional landscapes that caregivers navigate, the often-unexpected personal growth that comes with facing and expressing these emotions, and the profound importance of connecting to meaning and purpose through the caregiving experience. Dr. Applebaum shares heartfelt advice, from the practicalities of negotiating healthcare systems to embracing community support. Join us for this deeply insightful conversation that promises to touch on the shared realities of caregiving and illuminate the path towards a more supported and understood caregiving life. Stay tuned as we explore these themes and more with Dr. Alison Applebaum. Links and more info found at https://www.loveyourcaregivinglife.com  

    Meet Beth Allan Kellam, a seasoned medical research expert with over 20 years of experience collaborating with renowned hospitals such as Memorial Sloan Kettering, John's Hopkins, and Mass General. More recently, Beth launched an organization that aims to revolutionize the way we address urinary tract infections (UTIs) by providing a new natural supplement […]

Returning to a discussion of a new reality, Selfishly need to be talking about Milo and challenges arising in the wake of Milo's death, Challenges learning about the successes and failures of Milo's friends, Not learning would be worse, No such thing as life without pain, Greater feeling, expression, and appreciation as a result, Knowing you will have support provides comfort, Importance of an engagement that is quiet and listens, The Compassionate Friends, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Experiencing death providing a super power, Things that are equal parts wonderful and heartbreaking, What can possibly counterbalance the death of a child?, Colin Campbell Finding the Words, Emotional v. physical pain and how it is addressed, Different bereaved families want different things, Tell me about a person you have lost, We need openness and recognition, We need recognition of the depth, ubiquity, and permanence of the loss, Nick Billings, Maddie Billings, Jake Tapper, Brokenness creates space and openness, Recognition of brokenness creates openness, Milo is on our minds all the time, If you mention Milo's name you may make me emotional but if you don't you will break my heart      

 Did you know that much of what we know about women's bodies comes from the viewpoint of men? Our pain, strength, intellect, and much more have been based on an overwhelmingly male narrative. The result is a culture and society that continues to shape our healthcare. Today's guest, Dr. Elizabeth Comen, is a breast oncologist, physician/scientist, and medical historian. She discusses her new book “All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women's Bodies and Why It Matters Today.” She talks about how women throughout the ages, and even now, have been invalidated for their pain, and felt shamed and blamed. We've inherited this legacy and a culture of women apologizing for being sick, apologizing for taking up space, and apologizing for taking up time. Dr. Comen has dedicated her medical career to saving the lives of women. An award-winning, internationally sought-af­ter clinician and physician-scientist, Dr. Comen works as a medical oncologist with a specialty in breast cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and is an assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. She earned her BA in the history of science from Harvard College and her MD from Harvard Medical School, then completed her resi­dency in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. As a Memorial Sloan Kettering oncologist, she sees thousands of patients and talks about the vital importance of seeing each woman as an individual. So many of these women express how they feel misunderstood and how their breasts matter. She talks about our difficult medical system and how it's influenced so much from a cultural, religious, and historical perspective. Throughout history, there's never been a narrative that women's bodies are as strong and as powerful as a male body. Landmark studies have always been for men, then modified for women. There's no racial or ethnic diversity either as the studies typically focus on middle-aged white men. Her book talks about the stories of our deeply flawed system and offers suggestions for moving forward. Dr. Comen also discusses hormones, fluctuations, hormone replacement therapy, and how to balance. There is a long story of misunderstanding hormones. Testosterone was touted as being amazing and important for men, while estrogen causes women to have crazy mood swings. She further discusses symptoms of menopause, premature aging, and the distorted idea that women should “always look perfect.” She talks about the importance of lifting weights and stimulating strong bone density as we need strong bones, especially as we age. It improves our overall health. The gym can be intimidating, especially when women see many men lifting weights. Dr. Comen talks about hysterectomies and the history of “hysteria” as it comes from the Greek word for womb. People thought women were prone to being hysterical and mentally unbalanced because of their “wandering wombs.” She also talks about the long, horrible history of removing organs from women who were “not behaving” because maybe they were political or outspoken or overly sexual. She also talks about the Tuskegee experiments and Black men not being treated for syphilis. During this time, women too, could be forcibly arrested and treated with experimental means – if women looked promiscuous; if they were riding a bus alone; if they were outspoken. This occurred to thousands of women at the turn of the century. Many women were considered “dirty” and the innocent, clean men were being infected. Women felt shamed and blamed from contracting a disease from a man who was dishonest about their health. Dr. Comen discusses the generational traumas of women and how it directly and indirectly affects women today. She talks about how bicycles were the symbols of the Suffragists movement because they represented freedom. Male doctors threatened that if women rode bikes, they would develop bulky muscles and not be able to reproduce. She talks about men operating on women and the duality of plastic surgery. Plastic surgery was originally used on battle wounds when weapons caused so much destruction. Today there's a duality as it can be either empowering or punishing. She further discusses the history of early advertising and marketing campaigns and talks about how the tobacco companies encouraged women to smoke. Advertisers called cigarettes “torches of freedom.”   She also discusses the effects of stress, including “good” stress and anxiety which can help us move forward in our lives. She invites us to think about the stories we've been told and to realize it doesn't have to be as shameful as it has been historically. We can truly be empowered and change the narrative about women's health. It must be a movement aligned with all genders and the realization that we are all in this together. Info: drelizabethcomen.com.

Frank Morano discusses some of the hottest topics and gives his opinion. Frank talks about Donald Trump going to the damages phase of his trial involving E. Jean Carroll and then Frank talks about the Anti-Israel protesters going to Memorial Sloan Kettering and protesting outside the Hospital. Frank talks about Governor Hochul unveiling her budget proposal for the state that is the largest budget in history and then Frank talks about Deputy Mayor Philip Banks and the weekly Public Safety Briefings that just stopped. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode features Daniel Gomez, Director of Radiation Oncology and Vice Chair of Clinical Operations at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Here, he discusses his career journey, his thoughts on the current and future landscape of radiation oncology, advice for other healthcare leaders, and more.