DOCS TALK SHOP

Dawn Lemanne, MD & Deborah Gordon, MD

Eavesdrop as Dawn Lemanne, MD, and Deborah Gordon, MD discuss their difficult cases and the hard decisions they make behind the closed door of the exam room, when the textbooks and research protocols fall short.  They also share with each other which longevity protocols, hormones, mTOR inhibitors, senolytics, extreme diets and fasting, hormesis, cancer prevention, and dementia reversal protocols they prescribe, and which ones they quietly have tried for themselves.Anything else you want to hear about? Write to us! Dr Gordon: info@drdeborahmd.com Dr Lemanne: newsletter@oregonio.com

  1. Jun 16

    37. When Killing More Cancer Cells Makes Cancer Worse

    Cancer treatment is simple, right? Kill as many cancer cells as possible, as quickly as possible. In some cases, that may be exactly the wrong approach. In this episode, Dr. Dawn Lemanne and Dr. Deborah Gordon explore a surprising idea emerging from evolutionary biology, ecology, and mathematical oncology: in some metastatic cancers, aggressive treatment may unintentionally accelerate the growth of treatment-resistant cancer cells. Using examples ranging from DDT-resistant boll weevils to metastatic prostate cancer, they discuss: • Why cancer treatments stop working in advanced cancers • How cancer cells evolve resistance • How treatment-sensitive cancer cells actually help control more dangerous treatment-resistant cancer cells  • The concept of "competitive release" and how treatment can unintentionally remove the competition that restrains resistant cancer cells • How new blood tests called circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) allow physicians to monitor cancer in real time • The emerging field of adaptive cancer therapy, in which treatment intensity is adjusted in response to the cancer's evolutionary behavior • The research suggesting that overtreatment can sometimes shorten, rather than prolong, cancer control Along the way, they explore groundbreaking work mathematical oncologists and cancer evolution researchers, and discuss a radically different way of thinking about advanced cancer—not simply as an enemy to destroy, but as an evolving ecosystem whose behavior may be influenced and, in some cases, steered. This conversation applies to advanced metastatic cancers that cannot be cured with current treatments. It does not challenge the importance of aggressive treatment for cancers that remain potentially curable. The question explored in this episode is simple: Can killing more cancer cells sometimes make cancer worse? Dawn Lemanne, MD Oregon Integrative Oncology Leave no stone unturned. Deborah Gordon, MD Northwest Wellness and Memory Center Building Healthy Brains

    1h 13m
  2. 11/17/2025

    31. Rewiring Risk: Fixing ADHD Decreases Alzheimers, Social Jet Lag Ups Cancer Risk, and a theoretical strategy to treat prostate cancer

    Treat ADHD, lower Alzheimer’s risk? The episode explores emerging evidence that simply having ADD/ADHD raises lifetime Alzheimer’s risk—yet appropriately treating it in adults, often with low-dose stimulants, seems to push that risk back down. How can the same class of drugs be both feared as “brain-burning” and yet potentially brain-saving—and what does that mean for people already in midlife? Treating prostate cancer successfully with--testosterone?  Listeners are introduced to a first-in-oncology “directed evolution” case in metastatic prostate cancer, led by Dr. Lemanne’s team, where high-dose testosterone was deliberately used to expand treatment-sensitive cells—and only then was hormone blockade re-introduced. But did this radical, counterintuitive maneuver actually work? Emotional trauma in youth as a hidden Alzheimer’s driver? Dr. Gordon discusses links between youth emotional trauma to higher rates of Alzheimer’s decades later, even in people who appear to have “moved on.” Is this just correlation, or should early emotional trauma be considered a subtle form of brain injury that can and should be addressed? Do you go to bed later on weekends, by just 1-2 hours, but make up for it by rising later?  If so, you'll want to know that you may be increasing your risk of breast or prostate cancer.  This episode explores that research. Have you heard of the new Alzheimer’s blood tests, that improve as the patient improves, allowing better direction of treatment?  Dr. Gordon walks us through the ATN panel (amyloid-beta, p-tau, neurofilament light), now accessible through routine laboratory tests, along with galectin-3 as a tau-clustering, inflammation-linked marker, and a new infusion drug (TB006) targeting that pathway. But can these numbers really be moved in the right direction with targeted lifestyle and medical interventions—and what happens when they are? Enjoy this unusual episode!  And write to us. We read every email. Dawn Lemanne, MD Oregon Integrative Oncology Leave no stone unturned. Deborah Gordon, MD Northwest Wellness and Memory Center Building Healthy Brains

    1h 1m

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

Eavesdrop as Dawn Lemanne, MD, and Deborah Gordon, MD discuss their difficult cases and the hard decisions they make behind the closed door of the exam room, when the textbooks and research protocols fall short.  They also share with each other which longevity protocols, hormones, mTOR inhibitors, senolytics, extreme diets and fasting, hormesis, cancer prevention, and dementia reversal protocols they prescribe, and which ones they quietly have tried for themselves.Anything else you want to hear about? Write to us! Dr Gordon: info@drdeborahmd.com Dr Lemanne: newsletter@oregonio.com

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