Outliving Cancer

 Tom Stockwell, whose son passed away from a rare cancer shortly after being diagnosed at age 18, has focused on helping others find personalized treatment and ultimately, hopefully, a cure. On today’s episode, Dr. Nagourney talks with Tom.

 Some cancers are so uncommon, that we have to approach treatments with very little data and with very little literature. Functional profiling can help target these rare cancers.

Dr. Nagourney asks the big question: How do oncologists choose the drugs they use to treat their patients? It may sound simple, but it can be very complex.

Dr. Nagourney continues his discussion on the details of a disease that is so important to millions of Americans as he interviews Maria Lewis, who overcame advanced cancer several years ago by using functional profiling. 

Dr. Nagourney discusses the details of a disease that  is so important to millions of Americans as he interviews Maria Lewis, who overcame advanced cancer several years ago by using functional profiling. 

Dr. Nagourney highlights several remarkable examples of results for patients of advanced years in this episode of Outliving Cancer. 

The influence of age on cancer therapy. Dr. Nagourney examines the process of aging and its impact on cancer care.

Dr. Nagourney discusses how human tumor biology is evolutionary. If we consider how cancers adapt to micro-environmental stressors, many of which we call  therapies, we see the process of evolution accelerated as cancer cells divide. By condensing evolutionary adaptation, cancers can outdo our best therapies.

Dr. Nagourney examines the important distinction between gene tests and functional tests. It is critically important that all patients understand this fundamental distinction if they are to use functional profiling to gain the upper hand in their cancer management.

The conventional wisdom in cancer treatment and research is that More is Better. Dr. Nagourney explains that it not “how much” of a drug you receive, but instead “what” drug you receive that determines outcome.