Before the early 2000s, there were no effective treatments for chronic myelogenous leukemia, a blood cancer. Then came Imatinib. This drug dramatically improved survival and quality of life for patients with this disease. It also ushered in a new era of cancer treatment, with drugs that directly target tumor cells. In this episode, Chuck and Alicia talk with Dr. Brian Druker, a renowned physician scientist who was the main force behind the development of Imatinib.

As more people live longer and healthier lives following a cancer diagnosis, it brings up all kinds of questions about what is possible and safe. In this episode, Chuck and Alicia talk with Dr. Ann Partridge of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute about her work looking into how breast cancer survivors can have healthy pregnancies.

In September, Dana-Farber is hosting the 2025 Cancer Centers Survivorship Research Forum. Find more information and register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cancer-centers-survivorship-research-forum-2025-registration-1270679660069

An estimated 1.6 million people in the U.S. are living with or in remission from blood cancer. Many of these people are children. Today, thanks to the work of clinicians and researchers like Dr. Andy Kolb of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, those patients are living longer and undergoing less toxic treatments. In this episode, Dr. Kolb joins Chuck and Alicia to explain how his organization is improving the lives of patients with leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and other blood cancers.

Did you know that the immune system, which keeps us from getting sick, can also be harnessed to fight cancer? In this episode, Dr. Jedd Wolchok of Weill Cornell Medicine explains the major breakthroughs that led to the development of immunotherapy. This revolutionized treatment of metastatic melanoma, and has since been a game-changer in treating many other kinds of cancers.

We all receive genes from our parents, but what happens when our family carries genetic variants that are known to cause cancer? Chuck talks with Dr. Pamela Munster about the specialty clinic she runs at the University of California, San Francisco, for those who have cancers that arise from genetic variants. She also shares her unique experience of being an oncologist who has had breast cancer, and has a BRCA variant herself.

What if we could detect cancer before it even formed a tumor? That’s what Dr. Margaret Tempero is working on at the Cancer Early Detection and Interception Initiative at the University of California, San Francisco. Chuck talks with Dr. Tempero about advances in early detection through circulating tumor DNA and other approaches. They discuss how new early detection strategies could affect primary care, oncology, and most of importantly, those at risk for cancers.

The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health is a lot more than a group of buildings in Bethesda, Maryland. It’s an institution that provides vital support for cancer research, and connects a national network of cancer centers that treat patients around the country. In this episode, Chuck and Alicia talk with outgoing NCI director, Dr. Kim Rathmell, about the role of the organization and some recent points of progress.

Over the past several years, more and more Americans have been vaccinated against HPV, a virus known to cause cervical cancer, head and neck cancer, anal cancer and vaginal cancer, among others. As a result of the HPV vaccine, the cancers caused by this virus have declined significantly, and many lives have been saved. In this episode, Chuck talks with Dr. Ashish Deshmukh about this major public health win.

Chuck and Alicia sit down with Dr. William Pao to hear the story of how he contributed to the discovery of a gene mutation in lung cancer – a discovery that opened up new avenues for treatment, and changed thousands of lives. Find Dr. Pao’s book, Breakthrough, at all major booksellers.

To kick off The Good News About Cancer, Chuck and Alicia sit down with Karen Knudsen, the outgoing CEO of the American Cancer Society, to talk about some of the biggest wins in cancer prevention and treatment.