In Episode 12 of Bladder Cancer Matters, Rick Bangs's special guest is Samuel L. Washington III, MD, MAS, of the University of California San Francisco Department of Urology. Dr. Washington is Assistant Professor of Urology, Goldberg-Benioff Endowed Professorship in Cancer Biology, and a recipient of BCAN's Young Investigator Award.

Rick and Dr. Washington discuss:

• Why should patients get a second opinion?
• Are there ever good reasons to NOT get a second opinion?
• Will my doctor support me getting a second opinion?
• What do you/should you tell the patient as a clinician when you hear them say they want to do this?
• What if the first and second opinions disagree?

In Episode 11 of Bladder Cancer Matters, Rick Bangs's special guest is Yair Lotan, M.D., a Professor of Urology and the Chief of Urologic Oncology, at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He is also the Medical Director of the Urology Clinic at UT Southwestern and Parkland Health and Hospital System.  Dr. Lotan also serves on BCAN's Scientific Advisory Board.

Rick and Dr. Lotan discuss:

• When do urologists use a cystoscopy and why?
• What are the different types of light used in a cystoscopy, like white light, blue light and narrow band imaging?
• Is there anything that urologists can do to ease the discomfort of a cystoscopy?
• What is an enhanced cystoscopy?
• Should I shop around for different types of imaging?

In Episode 10 of Bladder Cancer Matters, Rick Bangs's special guest is Dr. Alexander Kutikov, MD, FACS of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. Dr. Kutikov is the Chief of the Division of Urology and Urologic Oncology.

Rick and Dr. Kutikov discuss:

• What can a cystoscopy tell you about the bladder cancer stage?
• Is a blue light cystoscopy better than a white light?
• What about x-rays and CT scans? Can they give you different information than a cystoscopy?

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In this Part 3 of 3 of Episode 9 of Bladder Cancer Matters, host Rick Bangs chats with Jill Hamilton-Reeves, PhD, RD, CSO.  Dr. Reeves's research is focused on nutrition and cancer prevention, management, and survivorship, with specific attention on genitourinary cancers.

Rick and Dr. Reeves discuss:

• The importance of nutritional guidance right after bladder cancer surgery
• Why accredited cancer centers are required to have a nutritionist on staff
• What patients who have had a radical cystectomy need to do regarding diet and nutrition right after surgery

In this Part 2 of 3 of Episode 9 of Bladder Cancer Matters, host Rick Bangs chats with Jill Hamilton-Reeves, PhD, RD, CSO.  Dr. Reeves's research is focused on nutrition and cancer prevention, management, and survivorship, with specific attention on genitourinary cancers.

Rick and Dr. Reeves discuss:

• How good nutrition may help patients receiving immunotherapy, either by increasing the effectiveness of their immunotherapy or making the side effects more tolerable
• How fitness and nutrition before a radical cystectomy play into the results from the surgery including any complications
• How you can lose muscle - not fat - in the days after bladder cancer surgery

In this Part 1 of 3 of Episode 9 of Bladder Cancer Matters, host Rick Bangs chats with Jill Hamilton-Reeves, PhD, RD, CSO.  Dr. Reeves is a registered and licensed dietitian with doctoral training in translational and clinical nutrition science. Dr. Reeves's research is focused on nutrition and cancer prevention, management, and survivorship, with specific attention on genitourinary cancers.

Rick and Dr. Reeves discuss:

• The relationship between nutrition and bladder cancer, and how that evolves at various points in the bladder cancer journey
• How being severely overweight can harm patients before, during and after treatment
• How to deal with lack of an appetite when receiving chemotherapy.

In Episode 8 of "Bladder Cancer Matters," host Rick Bangs interviews Dr. Matthew Milowsky about genetics, genomics and personalized medicine for bladder cancer treatment. 

Dr. Milowsky is the Section Chief, Genitourinary Oncology; Co-Director, Urologic Oncology Program University of North Carolina School of Medicine.  Dr. Milowsky is also the chair of BCAN's Bladder Cancer Genomics Consortium. In this episode, Rick and Dr. Milowsky discuss:

• What the Bladder Cancer Genomics Consortium is and what it does
• What an "exceptional responder" is is bladder cancer
• The importance of clinical studies to the future of bladder cancer
• How philanthropy propels bladder cancer medical research

In this episode, Bladder Cancer Matters host Rick Bangs and guest and BCAN c-founder Diane Zipursky Quale discuss the fact that, despite significant advancements in the past 10 years in the understanding of the biology of bladder cancer and the development and approval of many new therapies, bladder cancer in 2021 remains a deadly disease with low public awareness, inequitable and inadequate funding, and a limited number of effective treatment options.

Rick and Diane also discuss the issue that bladder cancer research advances should be focused on improving the quality of life for patients from the time of initial diagnosis through the end of life, with an emphasis on improving the ability to stratify patients into the appropriate risk categories for recurrence and invasion and developing effective treatments to eliminate the need for bladder removal.

In this episode of "Bladder Cancer Matters," host (and bladder cancer survivor) Rick Bangs interviews Carlos Glender, a non-muscle invasive bladder cancer survivor. Carlos had a Stage 1 high-grade bladder cancer.

Rick and Carlos talk about the symptoms that Carlos experienced that led him to go to his doctor, what it was like to receive a bladder cancer diagnosis, being treated with BCG in a time when the drug is in short supply, what it was like to attend a BCAN Bladder Cancer Summit for Patients and Families, as well as the importance of maintaining a positive attitude.

This podcast was made possible by FerGene and Merck. We are grateful for their support.

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Host Rick Bangs interviews Dr. Elizabeth Plimack of Fox Chase Cancer Center, where she is the Chief, Division of Genitourinary Medical Oncology.  Dr. Plimack is also the Chair of the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network's (BCAN's) Scientific Advisory Board.

Rick and Dr. Plimack talk about:

• The importance of supporting bladder cancer research
• The role of BCAN's Scientific Advisory Board
• What the Bladder Cancer Think Tank is
• Resources that BCAN has for bladder cancer patients, caregivers, researchers and doctors.

Today's episode is sponored by Merck and we are grateful for their support.