Category Archives: Episode

Kicking Cancer! From Diagnosis to Defiance: One Survivor’s Story

December 13, 2024Episodebackstageupstage

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 40:50 — 37.4MB) | Embed

HOST: Hildy Grossman, CO-HOST: Jordan Rich
GUEST: TERRI CONNERAN, Founder of KRAS Kickers
Imagine facing five recurrences of cancer in seven years. Terri Conneran did, and she turned her adversity into a powerful force for change. Terri embodies the strength of the will to defy the odds of a cancer diagnosis and emerges as a beacon of hope for lung cancer patients. Despite multiple recurrences and navigating a challenging diagnostic journey, she remains resilient and determined to gather information, learn about research and advocate for others who have a KRAS biomarker. Terri founded KRAS Kickers to create a community for patients and families to have a place for support and gathering knowledge during diagnosis and treatment for cancer with a KRAS mutation, the most common biomarker responsible for the three deadliest cancers: lung, pancreatic and colon. Terri’s story is deeply personal, yet her fight is inspirational. She travels the world to meet with KRAS Kicker groups, researchers and providers to help revolutionize treatments. This episode is a testament to the power of hope and the power of the human spirit to kick cancer. Be sure to listen and share this podcast.

Everything Old Is New Again! Imagine This: Repurposing Existing Drugs For New Uses

October 15, 2024Episodebackstageupstage

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:40 — 36.3MB) | Embed

HOST: Hildy Grossman, CO-HOST: Jordan Rich
GUESTS: Jaime Cheah, Ph.D., Director of Collaborative Screening in the Center for the Development of Therapeutics at the Broad Institute and Jane Wilkinson, co-founder and president of CANCollaborate

Our guests, Jane Wilkinson and Jaime Cheah join the conversation to tell us about some incredible work to expand the use of a drug beyond its original treatment target. Jane Wilkinson discusses why this is not only important for lung cancer, but particularly in rare cancers for which the time and cost of developing new drugs is prohibitive. Repurposing drugs is a powerful approach to developing new therapies, because they have already been approved by the FDA and been shown to be safe and effective for at least one indication. Jaime Cheah discusses the work at the Broad Institute at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in terms of how drugs are repurposed and the scale of this remarkable process. You won’t want to miss how thinking so creatively leads to the beginning of a new drug discovery path.

Misunderstandings About Clinical Trials Reflecting On Past Lessons to Future Innovations

September 18, 2024Episodebackstageupstage

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:22 — 38.8MB) | Embed

HOST: Hildy Grossman, CO-HOST: Jordan Rich
GUESTS: Geoff Oxnard, MD, VP Clinical Development, Global Head Thoracic Cancer | Thoracic Oncologist, Boston Medical Center

With so many misunderstandings about clinical trials, this podcast aims to clarify what a clinical trial is, how they have changed over time, why it is important to inform patients about them and how to increase access. With only about 7% participation in clinical trials by patients, the question is how to make trials more available to patients. Dr. Geoffrey Oxnard, VP Clinical Development, Global Head Thoracic Cancer, Lilly, is our guest. He is both a treating oncologist as well as a scientist helping to develop new drugs to treat cancer. He discusses different phases in clinical trials, how to partner with his patients in making decisions about whether to join a new trial, and how to expand access to trials to diverse populations. Listen now and learn more.

GROUNDBREAKING TREATMENTS FOR CANCER What’s New in Immunotherapy for Lung Cancer?

August 7, 2024Episodebackstageupstage

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:57 — 36.6MB) | Embed

HOST: Hildy Grossman CO-HOST: Jordan Rich
GUESTS: David Barbie, MD and Elliott Brea MD, Ph.D.

As Albert Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” That said, our guests on this podcast share groundbreaking research that investigates new ways of using one’s own immune system to fight cancer. Understanding how immunotherapy works is a complicated topic. Our guests, David Barbie, MD and Elliott Brea, MD, PhD of Dana Farber Cancer Institute, do a masterful job in managing to simplify concepts, and in the most enjoyable way. They discuss the workings of immunotherapy and groundbreaking directions within this form of treatment, simplifying terms even the best educated strain to understand. Take a listen now.

WHAT NO ONE EVER TOLD YOU: HOW TO SUPPORT LUNG CANCER PATIENTs AND FAMILIES

June 19, 2024Episodebackstageupstage

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:37 — 33.5MB) | Embed

HOST: Hildy Grossman CO-HOST: Jordan Rich
GUESTS: Francine Jacobson, MD, MPH, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston

The process of being diagnosed and treated for lung cancer is often an arduous one. Hildy discusses her own winding road – how slipping on the stairs while wearing new shoes ultimately led to diagnosis and successful treatment. The accidental discovery of her tumor highlights the value of persistence by patients.
With our guest, thoracic radiologist, Francine Jacobson, MD, we discuss various ways patients and their families can prepare for diagnosis and treatments. Knowing what to expect can reduce anxiety and minimize risks that patients will avoid or postpone procedures. Dr. Jacobson offers insights into preparing for CT scans, other diagnostics, and radiology treatments. Equally important is preparing family members or other caregivers to support and join the patient on their journey. Additional issues are considered, such as disparities in access to treatment, educational, racial, and financial backgrounds.

WHAT’S UP DOC? Current and Future Lung Cancer Care

May 13, 2024Episodebackstageupstage

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:08 — 38.6MB) | Embed

HOST: Hildy Grossman CO-HOST: Jordan Rich
GUESTS: Jacob Sands, MD and Julia Rotow, MD, Dana Farber Cancer Institute

Do you worry about cancer? Do you, or does someone you love, have cancer? Our guests today explore the often-worrisome journey from screening and diagnosis to treatment. This podcast features a thoughtful conversation among oncologists who share various options for diagnosis and treatment for their patients. They address what’s necessary to screen for lung cancer, what are the limits for screening, concerns about the presence of microscopic disease, how surgery and radiation can be curative, when drug treatment can be used along with surgery to improve outcomes, what pharmaceutical treatments are available, when to escalate treatment, or not and more. This valuable and hopeful conversation addresses current cancer care, as well as possibilities in future care, including the development of new technologies. You’ll want to listen and share this information with someone you know who is facing and managing cancer.

LISTENING TO THE PATIENT’S VOICE: We Are All Patients, Sometime

April 4, 2024Episodebackstageupstage

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:15 — 33.2MB) | Embed

HOST: Hildy Grossman CO-HOST: Jordan Rich
GUESTS: Cheryl Davis, of Red Thred Solutions; Lauren Coye, Patient and Patient Advocate

What often goes unheard in medical situations is the patient’s voice. Our guests have a lot to say about this matter.

Cheryl Davis has extensive experience in patient advocacy in the pharmaceutical industry. Now she aids biopharma, biotech and patient advocacy organizations in improving their practices, communications, and partnerships for better healthcare outcomes. She discusses how listening to patients’ voices shows three general types of patients and their behaviors in medical circumstances.

What does it mean to have a voice? Lauren Coye describes her experience of having been diagnosed with lung cancer at age twenty-four after years of symptoms. Her resilience and determination are an inspiration.

BLACK WOMEN AT HIGH RISK FOR LUNG CANCER? It Takes a Village

March 7, 2024Episodebackstageupstage

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:09 — 31.3MB) | Embed

HOST: Hildy Grossman, Co-Host: Jordan Rich
GUESTS: Chi Fu Jeffrey Yang, MD with Alexandra Potter and Deepti Srinivasan

Our podcasts have focused on disparities in healthcare, particularly in Hispanic, Asian, and rural communities. This podcast considers the Black community in the US, and in particular, black women. What do we know about lung cancer differences in the black community vs the white community? Well, we know that both black men and women are less likely to be diagnosed at an early stage where lung cancer is most treatable. So, survival rates in the black community are lower than in the white community. Our guests today are working hard on a research project to address this disparity by bringing information and improving access to CT scans for the community of black women. This group is often ineligible for this diagnostic tool because they don’t meet the guidelines based on the National Lung Cancer Screening Trials. Learn more and why this project is so important.
Our guests today, Dr. Chi Fu Jeffrey Yang, Alexandra Potter and Deepti Srinivasan of Mass General Hospital are working hard on research into the community of Black Women and how to facilitate their participation in low dose lung cancer screening.

RADON: A MAJOR CAUSE OF LUNG CANCER- TAKE ACTION!

February 1, 2024Episodebackstageupstage

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:39 — 39.1MB) | Embed

HOST: Hildy Grossman, Co-Host: Jordan Rich
GUESTS: Jacqueline Nixon and Gloria Linnertz

Radon is a radioactive gas released in rocks and soil, possibly in your home or where you work. It’s odorless, tasteless, and invisible and can seep up through the ground and circulate into the air. As a result, Radon can enter homes through cracks in floors, walls, or foundations, and collect inside of homes and other buildings. Unfortunately, Radon is a major cause of lung cancer. Scientists estimate that there are 15,000 to 22,000 lung cancer deaths in the United States each year related to radon.
Both Jacqueline Nixon and Gloria Linnertz represent an organization, Citizens For Radioactive Radon Reduction. Gloria discusses how learning that her husband, Joe, had late-stage lung cancer attributable to the skyrocketing measure of radon in her home changed her life. Although Joe lost his life to lung cancer, Gloria was tireless in demanding that politicians create bills addressing the safest amount of radon for homes on a local and state level.
Jacqueline’s story is one of a survivor whose lung cancer was attributed to unacceptable levels of radon in her apartment. She too took action and created a campaign of awareness.
You’ll find answers to questions about acceptable levels of radon, how to test for radon, and how to get rid of it if necessary. This podcast is so important and could save a life.

DID YOU KNOW LUNG CANCER’S A WOMEN’S DISEASE?

January 10, 2024Episodebackstageupstage

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:15 — 34.1MB) | Embed

What Women Need to Know About Lung Cancer

Host: Hildy Grossman with Jordan Rich, co-host
Guest: Narjust Duma Flores, MD
Lung Cancer has a reputation of being a man’s disease. Today this notion couldn’t be further than the truth. Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer of women as well as men, taking more women’s lives than breast, ovarian, and uterine cancers combined. It’s our privilege is to have international lecturer, researcher and oncologist, Dr. Narjust Flores, as our guest to help us learn more about how women and men differ in the incidence and expression of lung cancer. She’ll discuss the significant finding that there is an increase in lung cancer diagnoses in women, while at the same time a decline in men. We’ll discuss the emerging data demonstrating sex-specific susceptibility, prognosis, and treatment of lung cancer. Dr. Flors will also speculate on why the steepest increase in incidence of lung cancer is among non-smoking women. This is a fascinating and vital conversation.

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