Cancer Horizons

In this week’s episode of the “Cure Talks Cancer” podcast, we spoke with Benjamin Breyer, M.D., about a phenomenon that’s raising big questions, big concerns and big money across the cancer landscape: crowdfunding. As cancer progresses and financial alternatives grow fewer, many diagnosed patients in the US are turning to online crowdfunding to soften the financial blow and make ends meet. A recen...

For this month’s CURE Talks Cancer Podcast: Nursing Edition, we’re diving in to an important – but unfortunate – reality in the world of healthcare: workplace violence. We’ll hear from Christine Pontus, MS, RN, COHN-S/CCM, of the Massachusetts Nurses Association about how the changing healthcare system may be leading to more violence against nurses and other practitioners. We discuss the warning s...

Many have grown up in the sun without ever really thinking of the long-term, and at the time unknown, consequences from such exposure - namely skin cancer.   Ron Manilof, someone who grew up on the Long Island beaches, was diagnosed with skin cancer in his 30’s - a disease that has recurred multiple times over the following 30 years of his life.   Most recently, in October 2018, while recuperating...

After years of expensive and emotionally taxing screenings, finding a lump and learning more about her family risk for cancer, Kristen Carbone underwent a preventative mastectomy followed by silicone implant reconstruction.   Years later, following a common issue associated with her surgery, Kristen realized she wasn’t alone in her experiences and wanted to broaden the scope of breast cancer navig...

After a car accident, and experiencing what he thought was a stroke, Matt Newman was diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 39 – an experience he found strength and courage in.   With a wife and three children at home, as well as a cancer partner in his father-in-law facing his own pancreatic cancer diagnosis, Matt immediately went into fight mode. He utilized fitness and exercise to get throug...

With no symptoms besides a lump in his neck, Jason Mendelsohn was devastated to discover he was being diagnosed with stage 4 HPV-related throat cancer at the age of 44.   Determined to raise awareness about these types of cancers, as well as their vaccines, screening and treatments, Jason created a website called SupermanHPV.com and recently joined a congressional briefing to help others understan...

Oncology nurses can make the world of a difference when it comes to patient care, and it is crucial that they work together with other memebers of the treatment team to ensure the best outcomes, according to Sally Werner, MSHA, BSN, RN, senior vice president, affiliate relations at Cancer Support Community.   In this month’s episode, Werner – an oncology nurse by trade – discusses how nurses can b...

Following his stage 3 melanoma diagnosis, Patrick called upon what he had learned to find hope. His first thought: Ok, what’s next?   In this week’s episode, we spoke with Patrick, who is now a three-year melanoma survivor, about the importance of community and human connection to build hope after a cancer diagnosis. 

After losing her mother, grandmother and great aunt to breast cancer, Allyn Rose, a former Miss USA and Miss America contestant, chose to undergo a prophylactic double mastectomy. She went on to become the first woman who had undergone a mastectomy to be featured by Sports Illustrated .   In this week’s episode, we spoke with Allyn about her family history with cancer and her advocacy work with th...

In this week’s episode of the “CURE Talks Cancer” podcast, we spoke with a caregiver about support needed for others taking care of a loved one with cancer: They need it, too, she says.   In a letter to her younger self – through Merck’s Your Cancer Game Plan “With Love, Me” campaign – Kristi, a caregiver to who her husband who was diagnosed with stage 3 HPV-related tonsil cancer in 2013, addresse...

Rolf Benirschke was a placekicker for the San Diego Chargers when he was faced with a life-threatening challenge off the field: battling ulcerative colitis. Returning to the NFL, he went on to not only be the first NFL player ever to wear an ostomy appliance, but also a grateful patient.   Since, Rolf has dedicated his life to patient advocacy and supporting the research and innovation that leads...

When he retired in 2010 after 30 years as a referee for the National Hockey League, Kerry Fraser looked forward to hanging up his skates and spending some well-earned time with his family. But seven years later, he was body checked by something he didn’t expect: a diagnosis of essential thrombocythemia, a rare blood cancer.    In this episode of CURE Talks Cancer, we talk with Kerry about his diag...

After being inspired by one of her patients, Harding Cranford, RN, OCN, an oncology nurse at the Levine Cancer Institute, wanted a way to connect the community with the patients she treated on the oncology unit.  So, the nurse started "Bravery Bags," a program where people can donate items to those going through cancer that can act as a pick-me-up during treatment. What started as a small grassroo...

One pediatric oncology nurse’s experience came full circle when she herself was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2010, and went on to serve as her husband’s caregiver for the same disease just six years later.   In a letter to her younger self – through Merck’s Your Cancer Game Plan “With Love, Me” campaign – Karen opened up about her experiences as both a patient and caregiver, and how outside su...

It was one man’s passion for music that actually led to his multiple myeloma diagnosis.   In 2012, Ryan Anthony received his cancer diagnosis at just 43 years of age – something that was sparked by chronic aches and pains while playing his trumpet.   With this passion, he and fellow musicians created the Cancer Blows event, designed to raise both awareness and money to encourage research for cance...

If you had the chance to write a letter to your younger self, what would you say? One melanoma  survivor wishes just one thing: “I wish I knew what cancer would do for me, not to me.”   In this week’s episode, we spoke with Trena – who recently participated in Merck’s Your Cancer Game Plan campaign, called “With Love, Me” designed to offer insights from patients and caregivers about the emotional,...

Information about myeloproliferative neoplasms – or MPNs – is hard to come by. Even a simple internet search about this rare group of blood cancers turns up little. But the MPN Research Foundation’s myMPN Patient Registry aims to change that.    This week on CURE Talks Cancer, we spoke with Robyn M. Scherber, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Hematology and Oncology at the UT He...

Barbara Bittner, RN, OCN, is an oncology nurse navigator at AdventHealth in Florida. But to her, nursing is much more than just a career. Bittner cares deeply for all of her patients, and even helped establish Charlene's Dream, a resource center for women with cancer, after her friend and Colleague, Charlene, passed away from the disease.

In this week’s episode of the “ CURE Talks Cancer” podcast, we spoke with a caregiver who found hope in the darkness after losing her son to lung cancer at just 29 years old.

In this week’s episode, we spoke with a patient and his doctor about genomic testing and how it can change treatment outcomes for patients with cancer.

In this episode of “CURE Talks Cancer,” we spoke with a patient, an advocate and a doctor to learn more about bladder cancer and what others should know about the disease. 

With the approval of the first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in 2017, the stars aligned just in time for one woman diagnosed with a rare lymphoma.   Following what was a stubborn cough and many misdiagnoses, Caitlin Buchanan was told she hadprimary mediastinal diffuse large B-cell lymphoma . After chemotherapy failed to work, she was given a second chance with CAR T-cell therapy –...

In 1997, Katie Couric’s life changed forever when her husband was diagnosed with advanced colorectal cancer, and then just four years later, her sister with pancreatic cancer. Now, 20-plus years later, Couric is working with Merck’s Your Cancer Game Plan to offer her younger self advice. A new program called “With Love, Me” features a series of heartfelt letters written by caregivers and cancer su...

A passion for running and helping her patients has led Angela Hammack, BSN, RN, OCN, to do great things. In 2017, Hammack, a charge nurse and clinical educator with Jackson Oncology Associates, ran a 100-mile race for cancer research and patient care. Her efforts continued after that, and to-date, she has raised over $100,000 for the cause. For this month’s episode, we’ll hear from Hammack—who was...

Imagine overcoming a breast cancer diagnosis and its treatment, yet in choosing reconstructive surgery with textured implants, finding out you may be at risk for a rare type of lymphoma. Renee Ridgeley found herself in that exact situation. Following the recent controversy with a Food and Drug Administration panel not banning these implants that are to blame for causing breast implant-associated a...