The Cancer History Project

Cancer History Project
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A podcast of oral histories and interviews with the people who have shaped oncology as we know it. The Cancer History Project is an initiative by The Cancer Letter, oncology's longest-running news publication. The Cancer History Project’s archives are available online at CancerHistoryProject.com.

  1. Funmi Olopade on how life in Nigeria and South Side Chicago inspired her career in cancer genetics

    FEB 12

    Funmi Olopade on how life in Nigeria and South Side Chicago inspired her career in cancer genetics

    Olufunmilayo “Funmi” Olopade, director for the Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics and Global Health at the University of Chicago, credits her Nigerian upbringing for her focus on global cancer genetics. “My Yoruba culture really worships our ancestors and the people before us,” Olopade said on the Cancer History Project podcast. “And so that's why I was able to really say, ‘Okay, let's lay the foundation for genetics. Let's go to Nigeria.’” Olopade appears on this special Black History Month episode of the Cancer History Project Podcast in conversation with Robert A. Winn, director and Lipman Chair in Oncology at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center and guest editor for The Cancer Letter for Black History Month highlighting some of the giants in the field of cancer research. This episode is sponsored by City of Hope, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Olopade is certainly a giant in cancer genetics and global health. “For those of you who don't know, Dr. Olopade is not only the director of the Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics and Global Health at the University of Chicago, but she is really a giant in the field and internationally renowned in the context of her expertise in breast cancer,” Winn said on the podcast. “By the way, for those of you who thought you knew Dr. Olopade, remember that she is a really rare, not only National Academy, but in that top 1% of 1% of the 2025 MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the Genius Grant.” On this episode of the Cancer History Project Podcast, Olopade shares her story of immigrating to the U.S. from Nigeria to pursue medicine, and finding her way to becoming a leading expert in oncology. “For us to honor Black History Month, we have to honor all the people who mentored us, who were ahead of us,” Olopade said. “For me, my father was a pastor, and my parents really wanted a doctor. I had big brothers and sisters, I was number 5 of 6 children, and there was just one last chance to find a doctor in the family. Because in those days, growing up in Nigeria, you were either a teacher or a pastor, or and then in his generation he became a pastor.” Growing up in Nigeria, Olopade was deeply influenced by the health disparities she saw due to lack of healthcare access, which initially sparked an interest in cardiology. Explore related articles and read the full transcript: https://cancerhistoryproject.com/article/funmi-olopade-podcast/

    41 min
  2. Bernie Lewinsky on radiation oncology giants, fifty years of progress, and the healing power of art

    JAN 22

    Bernie Lewinsky on radiation oncology giants, fifty years of progress, and the healing power of art

    When Bernie Lewinsky was a young radiotherapy resident, he studied under some of the most storied names in the field. Now, over fifty years later, he marvels at how much radiation oncology has changed.  “You've gone from a betatron, cobalt and radium needles, and treating AP one day and PA the next, to probably treating on some sort of amazing [technology like a] TrueBeam or Elekta,” said Stacy Wentworth, a radiation oncologist at Duke University School of Medicine, who hosted this episode of the Cancer History Project Podcast. Lewinsky was one of the co-founders of the Endocurietherapy Society, which now exists as the American Brachytherapy Society. He has also helped develop the first group of freestanding radiation therapy clinics in Los Angeles, CA.  Throughout the years—whether during his rotation at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London during residency or participating in tumor boards at UCLA—he has been part of many fervent debates with radiotherapy legends, arguing over whether Hodgkin's lymphoma spreads up or down the body, and the legitimacy of Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy in the early days.  “Now it's so much more accurate, so much different and so precise,” Lewinsky said. “When you start talking about blocking the nodes in the heart to stop arrhythmias, we're very specific.” Lewinsky brings a treasure trove of artifacts to the interview—written orders of radium needles from 1948, an attachment that connected to an orthovoltage machine, a Mick applicator, and even a Bunsen burner. He plans to send some of these relics to the archives at ASTRO or the American College of Radiology.  Beyond his practice of medicine, Lewinsky has also brought healing to his patients through his landscape photography. Some of his first photos captured an active volcano in El Salvador, where he grew up. Prints of some of his photographs can be found on the covers of academic journals and on the walls of his office.  He distinctly remembers one patient, whose attention drifted off during an office visit. Lewinsky says the patient was struck by a photo of cherry blossoms he took in London.   “I said, ‘Wait a minute, what is it about that picture that's got you mesmerized?’ and he says, ‘I remember when I was a little kid, my dad would take us cherry-picking. I sure wish my dad was here right now,” Lewinsky said. “It became my observation that there is a healing aspect to nature photography and putting it in the office when a patient is under tremendous stress, it not only calms the patient, but it brings back memories that they cherish.” A transcript of this interview is available at https://cancerhistoryproject.com/article/bernie-lewinsky-podcast/

    1h 7m
  3. Michael Link on advances in pediatric oncology, his term as ASCO President—and concern for the future

    09/22/2025

    Michael Link on advances in pediatric oncology, his term as ASCO President—and concern for the future

    To date, Michael P. Link has the unique honor of being the only pediatric oncologist to have served as president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.  Link, who is the Lydia J. Lee Professor in Pediatric Oncology at Stanford University, appeared on the Cancer History Project Podcast in conversation with Paul Goldberg, co-editor of the Cancer History Project and editor and publisher of The Cancer Letter. In honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Link revisits what drew him to pediatric oncology, his auspicious mentors, his 2011-2012 ASCO Presidential term—and his concerns about what he’s seeing in oncology today. Over the course of his career, Link has seen a childhood cancer cure rate increase from a mere 40% to closer to 90%. But he’s concerned about how the field of oncology is being impacted today. In his 2012 Presidential address, Link said: “There is another lesson from our children—that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This is a lesson not just from pediatric oncology, but from pediatrics in general. Prevention strategy through immunization has proven to be one of the greatest triumphs of pediatrics and of modern medicine. Rather than diagnosing and treating diphtheria, widespread immunization simply eliminated it as a health problem in North America. The near eradication of measles, polio, and serious infections from H Influenzae is a similar triumph.” He expressed shock about how things have changed in 2025.  “I'm a pediatrician, so here I am and they have measles? I mean really, measles in 2025? How is that possible?” Link said. “I never thought I'd be in a position where I have to talk to people about measles and polio and chickenpox as a threat... And measles, it's a matter of how serious your illness is going to be, and if you're immunocompromised it's life threatening.” Other concerns from his time as ASCO President have reemerged—or never really gone away. In 2012, Link said, “But all this newfound insight into these diseases and their treatment is only as good as our ability to deliver what we know. The current chemotherapy shortage is emblematic of the precarious nature of the path between the discovery and the delivery of our most exciting new findings.” Speaking on the podcast, Link called this an issue of “whack-a-mole”—where new drugs go into shortage on a regular basis. “Can you believe that here we are in whatever year it is, 20-whenever the next shortage is going to come and we don't have access to this?” A transcript of this conversation, along with an archive of related content, is available on the Cancer History Project: https://cancerhistoryproject.com/article/michael-link-podcast/

    1h 1m
  4. Rick and Mary Pazdur were an oncology power couple. Then Mary was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

    07/07/2025

    Rick and Mary Pazdur were an oncology power couple. Then Mary was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

    As an oncology nurse practitioner at NCI’s Clinical Center and wife of FDA’s Richard Pazdur, Mary Pazdur knew cancer drug development inside and out. When she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, she and Rick got to know “the other side of the stethoscope.”  In his 25 year career at FDA, Rick has shaped the FDA approach to drug approval, setting forth a set of criteria accepted by drug companies, academics and NCI. And for 16 years, Mary was by his side, with compassion, intuition, and practicality. She was described by one colleague as having a “combination of efficiency and great humanity, [...] compassion and strength.”  This interview with Rick and Mary Pazdur was recorded in 2015, a few months before she died, and was conducted by Ellen Stovall, three-time cancer survivor and pioneering patient advocate, on behalf of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship. Stovall also died a few months later—in January 2016—from cardiac complications due to her cancer treatments. This episode is accompanied by a robust archive about Rick and Mary Pazdur, as well as further reading about Ellen Stovall.  Read more at https://cancerhistoryproject.com/article/rick-and-mary-pazdur/

    59 min
  5. Melvin J. Silverstein on DCIS, breast cancer surgery, and building the first free-standing breast center

    06/02/2025

    Melvin J. Silverstein on DCIS, breast cancer surgery, and building the first free-standing breast center

    Melvin J. Silverstein, now Medical Director of Hoag Breast Center and the Gross Family Foundation Endowed Chair in Oncoplastic Breast Surgery at USC, sat down with Stacy Wentworth, radiation oncologist and medical historian, to reflect on his career. Silverstein founded the Van Nuys Breast Center in 1979. As he saw more and more and more patients with what was only recently coming to be known as ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), he wrote the first major textbook on the disease and developed the Van Nuys Classification for Ductal Carcinoma in Situ of the Breast as well as the USC Van Nuys Prognostic Index. Wentworth asked Silverstein about a time when his science was challenged by the medical establishment.  At the time, most surgeons favored treating DCIS just like aggressive, invasive breast cancers, with mastectomy and radiation. Silverstein wasn’t so sure about that. He felt that, in some cases, radiation wasn’t necessary. Silverstein debated against radiation oncologists at conferences for years, and his arguments stirred up visceral responses, he recalls. “Pro-radiation therapy were all the radiation oncologists from academic centers. That was Jay Harris, who was I guess my arch rival in this. He once, after one of these talks, came up to me, smiled at me and said, ‘You're killing patients.’ Which broke my heart,” Silverstein said. “It was a terrible thing. He said to me after not giving radiation therapy, but it turns out in the long run, everybody's come on board. And clearly now it's 25, 30 years later, some people have finally agreed that they all don't need it.” Recent trial results have confirmed Silverstein’s analysis that not all patients with DCIS need radiation. Today, Silverstein runs the USC breast fellowship program, which has an emphasis on oncoplastic surgery—the first of its kind. Read more at https://cancerhistoryproject.com/article/melvin-silverstein/

    52 min
  6. Walter Lawrence Jr. on surgical oncology, social justice, and the National Cancer Act

    05/05/2025

    Walter Lawrence Jr. on surgical oncology, social justice, and the National Cancer Act

    This interview with Walter Lawrence Jr. was conducted in 2020, when Lawrence was 95 years old and director emeritus of VCU Massey Cancer Center. Lawrence died one year later, on Nov. 9, 2021. Lawrence was one of the founders of the field of surgical oncology, setting up the first-ever university-based division of surgical oncology at what later became VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, in Richmond, Virginia. He served as director of VCU Massey from 1975 to 1988, during which time the cancer center earned NCI designation. Lawrence spoke with Paul Goldberg, editor and publisher of The Cancer Letter, and Robert Winn, director of VCU.  “The thing that was exciting about the National Cancer Act, which I think was one of the best things President Nixon did, among things that weren’t so good, was that it did bring the federal government into the funding of various kinds of research,” Lawrence said. Lawrence saw promise in the National Cancer Act, and earning the Cancer Center designation from NCI in 1975 allowed VCU, then called the Medical College of Virginia, to become systematically involved in clinical trials. “Randomized clinical trials were the only way we had of really improving patient cancer care—things like the one that Bernie Fisher in Pittsburgh started, the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project,” Lawrence said. Read more and explore related archives at https://cancerhistoryproject.com/article/walter-lawrence-podcast/

    32 min
  7. How Susan Ellenberg went from school teacher to leading biostatistician

    10/25/2024

    How Susan Ellenberg went from school teacher to leading biostatistician

    In this episode, Susan Ellenberg, emerita professor of biostatistics, medical ethics, and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, describes her lifelong love of mathematics, how she accidentally became a biostatistician, and her well-rounded career in clinical trial design and analysis. As a child, Ellenberg was fascinated by a mathematical puzzle. John is twice Mary's age when John was Mary's age. When Mary will be John's age, the sum of their ages will be 63. How old are John and Mary? Ellenberg occasionally chipped away at the question by randomly plugging in numbers, but she soon discovered another way to approach it. “When I got to high school algebra, I learned that there was an actual way to solve this problem. I was so excited I knew how to do it,” Ellenberg said. That enthusiasm, combined with her college entrance exam math scores—which topped her graduating class, despite not being in the math honors program—led her to become a math teacher. But Ellenberg soon put her career on hold so she and her husband could start their young family. However, when Ellenberg was pregnant with her first child, a friend asked if she could help with computer programming for a project under the eminent biostatistician Jerome Cornfield. That job led to Ellenberg earning a PhD in mathematical statistics and having a career in clinical trial design and analysis. She has held positions at the Emmes Clinical Research Organization, NIH, and FDA. She also worked with activists during the AIDS epidemic and has combatted misinformation about vaccine safety. Eventually, though, she took a job in academia and returned to her first passion: teaching. “I said I would teach a class on clinical trials, which I did all the years until I became emeritus,” Ellenberg said. “I really enjoyed doing that, [going] back to my original love of teaching.” Ellenberg spoke with McKenzie Prillaman, reporter at The Cancer Letter. A transcript of this conversation appears on the Cancer History Project.

    45 min
  8. Latino oncology leaders discuss representation in clinical trials, translational research, and health care

    10/11/2024

    Latino oncology leaders discuss representation in clinical trials, translational research, and health care

    To mark Hispanic Heritage Month, in this episode, six cancer experts discuss Latino representation in clinical trials, translational research, and healthcare professions. Hispanic and Latino people comprise nearly 20% of the U.S. population, but less than 6% of physicians nationwide identify as Hispanic. “The pipeline issue continues to be a huge issue for us,” said Amelie Ramirez, of UT Health San Antonio and Mays Cancer Center. “As our population continues to grow, in terms of the Latino population, we definitely need more [Latino physicians].” Since trust plays a huge role in recruiting participants, the dearth of Latinos in health care affects clinical trials and translational research, said Cruz-Correa, of the University of Puerto Rico and PanOncology Trials. “For our patients, for our communities, language is still important—that concordance between the physician that is telling you about the study and the patient’s background.” Still, it’s important to remember that Latinos are a very diverse group, who speak languages other than Spanish, said Carvajal-Carmona, of UC Davis. Latino people of the myriad ethnicities throughout the Americas have a variety of histories, cultures, and cancer risk factors, he said. And for Latino professionals in oncology, it’s vital to continue making their presence known, said Edith Perez, of Mayo Clinic. “We are part of the population. We are part of the intellectual minds that exist in this nation. And we're here to help lead and collaborate.” Panelists included: Moderator: Ruben Mesa, president, Atrium Health Levine Cancer; executive director, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center Luis Carvajal-Carmona, professor, Auburn Community Cancer Endowed Chair in Basic Science, associate vice chancellor for the Office of Academic Diversity, University of California, Davis Marcia Cruz-Correa, lead investigator and director, Clinical & Translational Research, University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center; chief medical officer, PanOncology Trials; professor of medicine and biochemistry, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine Edith Perez, professor emeritus, Mayo Clinic Amelie Ramirez, professor, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research, and chair of the Department of Population Health Sciences, UT Health San Antonio; associate director of cancer outreach and engagement, Mays Cancer Center Yolanda Sanchez, director and CEO, University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center A transcript of this conversation is available on the ⁠Cancer History Project⁠.

    53 min
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About

A podcast of oral histories and interviews with the people who have shaped oncology as we know it. The Cancer History Project is an initiative by The Cancer Letter, oncology's longest-running news publication. The Cancer History Project’s archives are available online at CancerHistoryProject.com.

Information

  • Creator
    Cancer History Project
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    51
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Cancer History Project
  • Show Website
    The Cancer History Project