Your Stories: Conquering Cancer

Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation | The American Society of Clinical Onco
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Your Stories: Conquering Cancer

Your Stories features candid conversations between patients, the people who love them, and the researchers looking for new treatments each day.

  1. 3 DAYS AGO

    Big Time Adulting: Kids, Cancer, and a Lesson in Laughter

    Caitlin Murray has mastered turning life’s setbacks into something that brings joy to the 1.5 million people around the world who follow her Instagram page. When her 3-year-old son, Calum, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2016, Caitlin and her family’s lives were quickly filled with doctor visits, grueling treatments, and endless uncertainty. Soon after Calum’s devastating diagnosis, Caitlin launched her blog, Big Time Adulting, to help keep her family informed and to cope with the challenges of parenting a child with cancer. However, Caitlin’s unique style of humor ultimately amassed an enormous audience. Today, with Calum in remission, Big Time Adulting serves as a multimedia outlet where Caitlin writes and shares about life, love, parenting, and the many ups and downs along the way. In this episode of the Your Stories podcast, Caitlin discusses how maintaining a sense of humor can be a powerful antidote to the unforeseen obstacles that life can bring. She also reflects on the impact of practicing gratitude, including why it matters to raise support for cancer research.

    40 min

  2. OCT 15

    Strength She Never Knew

    Every 14 seconds, someone is diagnosed with breast cancer, making it one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers in the world, second only to lung cancer, and the leading cause of cancer-related death among women globally. And, while a cancer diagnosis can be devastating for anyone of any age or gender, one group faces a particularly unique and complex set of challenges: young working mothers. It’s a reality that Irish patient Aisling O’Brien knows all too well. Aisling spent most of 2023 undergoing numerous rounds of treatment—including breast-conserving surgery right before the winter holidays—all while parenting three young children. “I'm slowly getting back to what is now my new normal,” says Aisling, now that she’s through treatment and cancer-free. “It's given me a lot of perspective. I don't sweat the small stuff. I don't get nervous about things anymore, because what's the worst that could happen?  It's shown me that I have a strength that I never knew I had.” It helped that Aisling had a medical oncologist who was there to support her and her family every step of the way: Dr. Michaela Higgins. A two-time Conquer Cancer grant recipient based at St. Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, Dr. Higgins has led numerous clinical trials for patients with breast cancer, helping to advance new treatments and cures. In this Your Stories episode, Aisling and Dr. Higgins join host Dr. Mark Lewis for a conversation about the many challenges that come with balancing motherhood and breast cancer, along with the promising future of breast cancer research and care.

    33 min

  3. SEP 17

    Picking Up the Pieces After Childhood Cancer

    Prom. Graduation. College. These are just a few rites of passage that high school seniors everywhere look forward to. But for Auburn, a devastating turn of events tilted her entire world off its axis and put all her senior year plans on hold. At just 18 years old, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. Instead of graduating with her classmates and going to senior prom, Auburn endured numerous rounds of lymphoma treatment, which is notorious for being incredibly taxing, especially for younger patients. Fortunately, one of Auburn’s providers, Dr. Raymond Mailhot, is uniquely qualified to help patients find the best and least traumatic course of care. A two-time Conquer Cancer-funded award recipient, Dr. Mailhot focuses on improving radiation oncology for younger patients in the U.S. and in Latin American countries. With his Conquer Cancer funding, he’s determined to improve radiation treatment options for pediatric patients—research that has helped inform his approach to Auburn’s care. In this Your Stories episode, Auburn and Dr. Mailhot have a heartfelt exchange about the many difficulties that cancer brings, especially for younger patients. Together, they reflect on Dr. Mailhot’s thoughtful approach to providing care for Auburn and the ways that Auburn has persevered to carve a promising path for her life.

    26 min

  4. AUG 20

    Three Months at a Time

    Gabriele “Gabe” Grunewald was a professional distance runner and a relentless optimist. She competed in Big Ten Championship races, became an NCAA track and field All-American athlete, and finished 4th in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials. Such accomplishments become even more impressive when you learn that—even as she racked up accolades and wins—Gabe also faced cancer numerous times. In 2009, Gabe was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer called adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC). Then, in 2010, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Despite these circumstances, Gabe persevered, continuing to train and run professionally. She also became a rare cancer advocate, launching the Brave Like Gabe Foundation to encourage other patients and survivors to embrace their own courage and chase their dreams. In June 2019, after a decade of living with ACC, Gabe passed away at her home in Minneapolis surrounded by loved ones—including her husband, Dr. Justin Grunewald. An ultra-marathon runner himself, Dr. Grunewald is also an internal medicine specialist and chair of the Brave Like Gabe Foundation’s Rare Cancer Research Working Group. He joins the Your Stories podcast to share more about Gabe’s story and legacy, along with the importance of supporting rare cancer research so that patients with these rare diseases have more hope for better outcomes.

    31 min

  5. JUL 16

    Skin Cancer 101: Spotting the Ugly Duckling

    Whether you’re relaxing on the beach, taking a hike in nature, or hitting your favorite water park, we’ve heard it time and time again: Excess sun exposure increases the risk of skin cancer, so protect your skin and apply your sunscreen. Of course, while some skin cancer risk factors are unavoidable, we all know there are proactive, preventive steps we can take—like applying sunscreen and limiting sun exposure—to decrease our risk. But what if you could do something that not only protects yourself from skin cancer, but also people around the world? Although numerous milestones have been made in skin cancer research and treatment, there remains significant room for improvement when it comes to treatment and care. Dr. Lynn Schuchter is director of the Tara Miller Melanoma Center at Penn Medicine and a former president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, or ASCO, for short. Having dedicated her career to caring for patients with skin cancers, Dr. Schuchter knows all too well how much progress still needs to be made in the field of skin cancer research and care. Today, Dr. Schuchter joins the Your Stories podcast to talk about the importance of prevention, patient-centered care, and the past, present, and future of skin cancer research and treatment.

    30 min

  6. JUN 18

    Bringing Better Cancer Care Back Home

    For Dr. Kekoa Taparra, cancer is deeply personal. Growing up in a remote area of Oahu, Hawaii, Dr. Taparra witnessed his younger cousin’s struggles with neuroblastoma. He watched his mother lift and carry his aunt, too weak to walk because of breast cancer. He heard the sharp cries of another aunt suffering with endometrial cancer. These early experiences drove Dr. Taparra to not only dedicate his career to oncology and cancer research, but to focus on addressing the various inequities that face Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities—from low rates of inclusion in clinical trials to geographic barriers to cancer care. In 2023, Dr. Taparra received the inaugural Dr. Judith and Alan Kaur Endowed Young Investigator Award through Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation. With this support, he launched a research project that uses machine learning to explore the various drivers of NHPI cancer disparities and helps categorize NHPI cancer data more effectively. He joins Your Stories host Dr. Don Dizon to share more about this important work and how his upbringing fueled his dedication to conquering cancer for every patient.

    39 min

  7. MAY 21

    Why Hasn’t Cancer Been Cured?

    Not only does cancer predate the practice of medicine, but it may also predate the human species entirely. In 2016, archeologists in South Africa unearthed a large 1.7 million years-old bone fragment, ultimately revealed to be the toe bone of an ancient but unknown species of human dating back millennia. On that piece of bone, they discovered something else: a malignant tumor. It’s a stark reminder that, for as long as their profession has existed, oncologists have been studying and treating cancer. For many, it raises a frustrating question: After so many centuries of studying cancer, why haven’t we cured it yet? The answer is complicated. Dr. Otis Brawley joins the Your Stories podcast to help us better understand what makes cancer such a complex and persistent adversary. In addition to being a professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins University and a former chief medical and scientific officer of the American Cancer Society, Dr. Brawley is a member of Conquer Cancer’s Board of Directors and editor of The Cancer History Project, a free online resource dedicated to documenting the history of cancer in medicine. He talks with host Dr. Mark Lewis about why cancer has not yet been “cured” and about how our study and understanding of it has evolved over time.

    39 min

  8. APR 16

    Stopping the Stigma

    What do esophageal cancer, testicular cancer, lung cancer, cervical cancer, and colon cancer have in common? Each carries some type of stigma or taboo—whether because they’re linked to behavioral causes or because they affect portions of the anatomy traditionally deemed private. The impact of these stigmas can be detrimental: In some cases, stigmatized cancers receive less research funding, resulting in fewer treatment innovations for patients. Moreover, stigmas often result in patients hesitating to seek critical diagnostic care, increasing the risk that their cancer won’t be caught until it’s too late. April is National Cancer Control Month, which aims to cut the U.S. cancer death rate in half by 2028. Although better cancer screening is a vital step toward that goal, many people do not get screened—a structural problem made worse by cancer stigmatization. In this episode of the Your Stories podcast, we’re joined by Dr. Stacy Wentworth, an award-winning oncologist and cancer survivorship expert. As medical director of cancer survivorship at Atrium Wake Forest Baptist Health Comprehensive Cancer Center, she has two decades of experience with leading patient-centered care teams in diverse settings. Dr. Wentworth is also the founder of her weekly Substack, Cancer Culture. In this forum, she explores how personal, scientific, and sociocultural factors shape attitudes toward cancer, including the various stigmas and difficult conversations that may come with it.

    35 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4.9
out of 5
17 Ratings

About

Your Stories features candid conversations between patients, the people who love them, and the researchers looking for new treatments each day.

Information

  • Creator
    Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation | The American Society of Clinical Onco
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2024
  • Episodes
    73
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
  • Show Website
    Your Stories: Conquering Cancer

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