CURE Talks Cancer

For 25-plus years, we’ve watched Scott Foley in a variety of acting roles – on shows like “Felicity,” “Scandal” and now “Whiskey Cavalier” – but many don’t know about his role as a caregiver to his mother after she received an ovarian cancer diagnosis when he was just 11.

Following his experience, Scott has teamed up with Tesaro as part of the Not on My Watch movement to share his story in hopes of educating others about treatments advances in ovarian cancer and why women no longer have to just watch and wait if their disease recurs.

With each share of Scott’s public service announcement, Tesaro will donate $5 to ovarian cancer patient organizations and support programs. For more information and to watch the video, visit notonmywatch.com.

After receiving a stage 4 neuroblastoma diagnosis at 15 months old, Candace Stevens beat the odds, and has used her experience to shape her career choice today.

Stevens was treated at St. Jude, and now participates in the institution’s LIFE program – research that brings long-term childhood cancer survivors back to St. Jude for regular health screenings throughout their adult lives. The findings from this research are helping survivors learn more about their individual health needs and also providing researchers with novel insights into the late effects of cancer therapy.

In this week’s episode, we spoke with Candace about growing up as a cancer survivor, why programs like St. Jude LIFE are helping other children moving forward, and why everyone should keep believing in miracles.

With the flood of information available on genetic testing for hereditary cancer risk, there is still an abundance of misinformation that exists regarding at-home tests.

Lisa Schlager, vice president of community affairs and public policy at FORCE, helped to dispel some of the misconceptions associated with at-home genetic testing, and why it is still vital to include a genetic counselor in this process.

For more information, visit www.facingourrisk.org.

As CURE gears up for its very first patient-focused meeting held in conjunction with this year’s

Miami Breast Cancer Conference on March 9, CURE Talks Cancer invited meeting faculty members Patrick Borgen, M.D., and patient advocate Stephanie Seban in to our studios here in New Jersey.

The pair discussed their journey as patient and doctor, and also why they are looking forward to helping to educate patients and their loved ones on the everyday issues they face following a cancer diagnosis.

For more information about CURE’s patient focused meeting at the Miami Breast Cancer Conference, visit https://www.curetoday.com/miami-breast-conf.

For this week’s episode of the CURE Talks Cancer podcast, we’re speaking with Maria Falzone, a safer sex educator and comedienne who is living with advanced cholangiocarcinoma – a rare cancer of the liver bile ducts.

After a recurrence in the summer of 2018, Falzone decided to forego chemotherapy and instead make the most out of whatever time she had left. To her, that meant making amends with others who may have hurt her, telling friends and family that she loved them, traveling the world and, of course, maintaining a great sense of humor.

To read more about Maria Falzone, visit https://www.curetoday.com/publications/cure/2018/bonus-2018/a-grateful-heart-after-a-cancer-diagnosis

Two doctors with very different journeys were honored by CURE for their efforts to improve the quality of life for those affected by chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

At the 2018 CLL Heroes Award ceremony, John C. Byrd, M.D., a researcher and clinical specialist at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-James Cancer Hospital, and Brian Koffman, M.D.C.M., a family doctor who has been diagnosed with CLL and co-founded the CLL Society, were both honored at the event.

This week, both winners tell us more about what they have accomplished in this space, and why being a CLL Hero is important to them.

For more information, visit: curetoday.com.

For this week's episode, hear from some of CURE's 2018 MPN Heroes. These Heroes are patients, survivors, caregivers, advocates or health care professionals with a passion for improving the lives and outcomes of patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms. 

To read more, visit https://www.curetoday.com/articles/cure-honors-nine-who-help-people-with-rare-blood-cancers

In 1991, two mothers faced every parent’s worst nightmare: their two infant daughters were undergoing treatment for cancer. With advances in research, both of their daughters survived; however, both mothers' journeys did not end there.  

Melissa Helms and Risa Tramel founded the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to fund research that will lead to the elimination of childhood cancer worldwide.

Now, many years later and after much success, we caught up with Melissa to discuss the foundation. We also spoke with two families who have benefitted from the research being done in this area.

Laurie was no stranger to cancer after she faced a bout with stage 3b non-Hodgkin lymphoma back in 1977, but her second diagnosis of breast cancer left her with a very tough decision on how she wanted to move forward with treatment.

After her oncologist recommended she us a diagnostic test, called the Oncotype DX assay, that helps make informed, individualized treatment decisions, Laurie was able to forgo chemotherapy treatment when she received a recurrence score that indicated that she had a relatively low risk of her cancer returning.

This week, we spoke with Laurie about her treatment decisions, and how this diagnostic test gave her what she calls “a piece of her life back.”

Following the launch of the CURE Talks Cancer podcast on March 1, the CURE team took a look back on its favorite episodes from its first season.

In this podcast, you’ll hear about the episode that kicked this all off – Barbells for Boobs – while also learning more about our interview with “McDreamy” himself, Patrick Dempsey; an advocacy group that will “knock” your socks off – Knitted Knockers; a 7-year-old with big aspirations, Micah; and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback, Jim Kelly.

Thanks for listening, and we look forward to season 2!