The Good News About Cancer
Did you know that “good news” and “cancer” could go together? The truth is, patients and their families have never had more reasons for hope and optimism than they do right now. A decade of transformational breakthroughs in treatment and prevention have saved millions of lives, and that’s just the beginning. In every episode of The Good News About Cancer, Dr. Charles Ryan and Dr. Alicia Morgans speak to the doctors, researchers, and advocates who are improving outcomes and charting new paths forward all around the world. Now that’s good news!
Episodes
How A Vaccine Could Treat Pancreatic Cancer
Vaccines have long been used to treat many diseases, but cancer has not historically been one of them. At the Olayan Center for Cancer Vaccines at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Dr. Vinod Balachandran and others are working to change that. In this episode, Chuck talks with Dr. Balachandran about his work on a vaccine to treat pancreatic cancer.
A Lot of Good News About Lung Cancer
In the past few decades, we have made huge strides when it comes to reducing mortality from lung cancer. Gone are the days when cigarettes were allowed in restaurants – improvements in prevention, screening, and treatment for lung cancer have completely changed the narrative. In this episode, Alicia and Chuck talk through the good news about lung cancer with Dr. Christine Lovly, Division Chief of
Taking CAR T cell Immunotherapy to the Next Level
More than a decade ago, doctors at the University of Pennsylvania treated a patient with her own T cells, which had been engineered to recognize and target the cancer cells in her body. The treatment, which is called CAR T cell immunotherapy, is now widely used for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. Today, scientists like Saul Priceman are working to take this therapy to the next level
You Are What You Eat: Good News About Cancer Edition
New research is helping us to better understand the connections between nutrition and cancer risk. Alicia and Chuck talked with Mathilde Touvier, one of the global researchers studying this issue. She’s a nutritional epidemiologist based in France, and her lab is looking at the effects certain food additives have on our risk of developing cancer.
Bridging the Gap in Treating Childhood Cancers Worldwide
Huge strides have been made in diagnosing and treating childhood cancers, but most of those benefits are seen in the wealthiest countries in the world. This leaves hundreds of thousands of children in need of adequate cancer care. Dr. André Ilbawi with the World Health Organization tells us about their initiative that aims to bridge this gap, and deliver services to children in low and middle reso
A Revolution in Bladder Cancer Treatment
Bladder cancer used to be a disease with very few effective treatment options. That was until two new strategies came on the scene: immunotherapies and antibody drug conjugates. These approaches have changed the way doctors treat bladder cancer, and prolonged the lives of many patients. Dr. Tom Powles, head of Barts Cancer Institute, tells Chuck and Alicia about his work on developing these treatm
Putting Quality Over Quantity with Radioligand Therapy
Radioligand therapy is a form of precise cancer treatment that targets specific cells with a radioactive substance. It’s used to treat prostate cancer and some types of neuroendocrine cancer, delivering powerful results with minimal impact on patient quality of life. Dr. Michael Morris helped develop radioligands for prostate cancer, and he tells Chuck and Alicia about the huge promise he sees in
Early Detection, Part 3: C the Signs
A lot of cancers don’t get diagnosed until the disease is somewhat advanced. Dr. Bea Bakshi founded her company, C the Signs, to change that. They use artificial intelligence to comb through medical records and identify when a patient should be screened for cancer – and it catches disease far earlier than a human doctor could. She tells Chuck about their success integrating into the National Healt
Early Detection, Part 2: Screening for Over 50 Cancers with Cancerguard
A new blood test called Cancerguard is pushing the boundaries of cancer early detection. The test is widely available, and has the ability to screen for more than 50 cancer types. In this episode, Chuck talks with Dr. Tom Beer of Exact Sciences, the company behind the Cancerguard test.
Early Detection, Part 1: Finding Cancer in the Blood, Years Before Symptoms
The earlier a cancer is detected, the more possibilities there are for effective treatment. In this episode, Chuck and Alicia talk with Dr. Nickolas Papadopoulos about his research into how indications of cancer can show up in the blood, long before symptoms arise.
When Exercise Is The Prescription
We all know that exercise is good for us, but historically there hasn’t been much data on how much exercise – or what kind of exercise – might have benefits for cancer patients. In this episode, Chuck and Alicia talk with Kerry Courneya of the University of Alberta about his study that looked into the question of exercise for patients with colorectal cancer. The results, which were published in th
When Immunotherapy Can Replace Surgery
Colorectal cancer rates are on the rise, particularly among young people. And the standard of care treatments can have lifelong impacts on a patient's quality of life – but new immunotherapies could change that. Dr. Andrea Cercek joins Chuck and Alicia to talk about the immunotherapy drug Dostarlimab, which is ushering in a new era of cancer treatment.
The Story Behind Imatinib, the First Targeted Cancer Treatment
Before the early 2000s, there were no effective treatments for chronic myelogenous leukemia, a blood cancer. Then came Imatinib. This drug dramatically improved survival and quality of life for patients with this disease. It also ushered in a new era of cancer treatment, with drugs that directly target tumor cells. In this episode, Chuck and Alicia talk with Dr. Brian Druker, a renowned physician
From Breast Cancer Patients to Healthy Mothers
As more people live longer and healthier lives following a cancer diagnosis, it brings up all kinds of questions about what is possible and safe. In this episode, Chuck and Alicia talk with Dr. Ann Partridge of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute about her work looking into how breast cancer survivors can have healthy pregnancies.In September, Dana-Farber is hosting the 2025 Cancer Centers Survivorship R
21 Million Years of Life Reclaimed from Blood Cancers
An estimated 1.6 million people in the U.S. are living with or in remission from blood cancer. Many of these people are children. Today, thanks to the work of clinicians and researchers like Dr. Andy Kolb of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, those patients are living longer and undergoing less toxic treatments. In this episode, Dr. Kolb joins Chuck and Alicia to explain how his organization is im
How Melanoma Met its Match: Cancer Immunotherapy
Did you know that the immune system, which keeps us from getting sick, can also be harnessed to fight cancer? In this episode, Dr. Jedd Wolchok of Weill Cornell Medicine explains the major breakthroughs that led to the development of immunotherapy. This revolutionized treatment of metastatic melanoma, and has since been a game-changer in treating many other kinds of cancers.
Preventing Cancer by Understanding Inherited Risks
We all receive genes from our parents, but what happens when our family carries genetic variants that are known to cause cancer? Chuck talks with Dr. Pamela Munster about the specialty clinic she runs at the University of California, San Francisco, for those who have cancers that arise from genetic variants. She also shares her unique experience of being an oncologist who has had breast cancer, an
Cancer Early Detection: Beyond Mammograms and Colonoscopy
What if we could detect cancer before it even formed a tumor? That’s what Dr. Margaret Tempero is working on at the Cancer Early Detection and Interception Initiative at the University of California, San Francisco. Chuck talks with Dr. Tempero about advances in early detection through circulating tumor DNA and other approaches. They discuss how new early detection strategies could affect primary c
The Crucial Role of the National Cancer Institute
The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health is a lot more than a group of buildings in Bethesda, Maryland. It’s an institution that provides vital support for cancer research, and connects a national network of cancer centers that treat patients around the country. In this episode, Chuck and Alicia talk with outgoing NCI director, Dr. Kim Rathmell, about the role of the orga
Winning Against HPV
Over the past several years, more and more Americans have been vaccinated against HPV, a virus known to cause cervical cancer, head and neck cancer, anal cancer and vaginal cancer, among others. As a result of the HPV vaccine, the cancers caused by this virus have declined significantly, and many lives have been saved. In this episode, Chuck talks with Dr. Ashish Deshmukh about this major public h
The Key that Unlocked Lung Cancer
Chuck and Alicia sit down with Dr. William Pao to hear the story of how he contributed to the discovery of a gene mutation in lung cancer – a discovery that opened up new avenues for treatment, and changed thousands of lives. Find Dr. Pao’s book, Breakthrough, at all major booksellers.
4.75 Million Lives Saved, and Counting
To kick off The Good News About Cancer, Chuck and Alicia sit down with Karen Knudsen, the outgoing CEO of the American Cancer Society, to talk about some of the biggest wins in cancer prevention and treatment.
Welcome to The Good News About Cancer
Did you know there was good news about cancer?In each episode of The Good News About Cancer, Dr. Charles Ryan and Dr. Alicia Morgans unpack exciting new developments in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Subscribe today wherever you get podcasts.
