Cancer Stories: The Art of Oncology

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, "Playing by Eye: Using Music as a Parallel to Clinical Oncology," by Dr. Beatrice Preti, Adjunct Professor at Western University in London, Ontario, in Canada. The essay is followed by an interview with Preti and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. Preti discusses the parallels in playing music by ear and clinical oncology encounters. TRANSCRIPT Narrator:...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, "When the Future Is Not Now," by Janet Retseck, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. The essay is followed by an interview with Retseck and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. Drawing on cultural history, Retseck explores a dying cancer patient's persistent optimism. TRANSCRIPT Narrator: When the Future Is Not Now, by Janet...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, ""Why Me?", a Question of Opportunity," by Simon Wein, head of Palliative Care Service at the Davidoff Cancer Centre. The essay is followed by an interview with Wein and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. Wein considers if patients are able to make rational decisions about their health when they are able to accept the reality of illness. TRANSCRIPT   Narr...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, "But Where is My Doctor? The Increasing and Relentless Fragmentation of Oncology Care, " by David Mintzer, Chief of Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Abramson Cancer Center of Pennsylvania Hospital. The essay is followed by an interview with Mintzer and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. Mintzer stresses the need for oncologists to make an effort to...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, "Afternoons in the Tower of Babel" by Barry Meisenberg, Chair of Medicine and Director of Academic Affairs at Luminis Health. The essay is followed by an interview with Meisenberg and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. Meisenberg describes how oncologists and families of patients in the ICU lack a common language when discussing status and prognosis. TRAN...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, "Market, Gift, Everyday Ethics, and Emmanuel Levinas in Patient Care" by Alan Astrow, Chief of the Hematology and Medical Oncology division at the New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. TRANSCRIPT Dr. Lidia Schapira: Hello, and welcome to JCO's Cancer Stories: The Art of Oncology , which features essays and personal reflections from...

TRANSCRIPT   Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, "Cemetery Rounds" by David Steensma, a hematologist-oncologist in Boston. The essay is followed by an interview with Steensma and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. Steensma describes the complex emotions that result from encountering graves of former patients on walks through a cemetery in his New England hometown. Narrator : Cemetery Rounds...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, " A Labor of Love" by Dr. Rebecca Kowaloff, a Palliative Care Attending at the University of Massachusetts. The essay is followed by an interview with Kowaloff and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. Kowaloff shares how she connects and supports young patients and families at the end of life. TRANSCRIPT Narrator:  A Labor of Love, by Rebecca Kowaloff  I ha...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, "At a Loss: Patient Deaths and Clinical Research Coordinators" by Dr. Hermioni Amonoo, a Carol Nadelson MD Distinguished Chair in Psychiatry at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. The essay is followed by an interview with Amonoo and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. Amonoo puts out a call for support for clinical researche...

Listen to ASCO's JCO Global Oncology's essay, "Capturing Memories for Children with Cancer in a Low-Resource Setting" by Dr. Allison Silverstein, an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. This Art of Global Oncology essay is followed by an interview with Silverstein and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. Silverstein shares her launch of a framed picture legacy project in Malaw...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, "First Cousins Once Removed" by Dr. Matthew Farrell, a radiation oncology resident at UCLA. The essay is followed by an interview with Farrell and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. Farrell paints scenes of how different family dynamics can come into play when advocating for patients. TRANSCRIPT Narrator:  First Cousin Once Removed, by Matthew J. Farrell,...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, "I Want to Kill You" by Dr. Noelle LoConte, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. The essay is followed by an interview with LoConte and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. LoConte shares her experience of a patient's threat to kill her and her reflections on how health care can be improved. TR...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, "Mrs. Hattie Jones" by Dr. Eric Klein, fellow at Stanford's Distinguished Careers Institute. The essay is followed by an interview with Klein and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. Klein shares the mystery of why Mrs. Hattie Jones might have died when she did. TRANSCRIPT Narrator: Mrs. Hattie Jones, by Eric Klein, MD ( 10.1200/JCO.22.02405 ) That Hattie J...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, "Wearing Your Heart Around Your Neck: Fostering Physician-Patient Relationships Through Sports" by Dr. Victoria Wytiaz. The essay is followed by an interview with Wytiaz and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. Wytiaz shares how a shared passion for sports can foster improved physician-patient relationships and empathetic care. TRANSCRIPT Narrator: Wearing...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, "Cardio-Oncology" by Dr. Daniel Rayson, clinical oncologist at Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Center. The essay is followed by an interview with Rayson and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. Rayson shares a personal experience working with a patient who has two life-threatening diseases. TRANSCRIPT Narrator: Cardio-Oncology, by Dr. Daniel Rayson ( 10....

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay , "How Are You, Choi-Seonsaeng?" by Dr. April Choi, a Hematology and Oncology fellow at Tufts Medical Center. The essay is followed by an interview with Choi and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. Choi discusses how navigating US healthcare is similar to acclimating to a foreign country. TRANSCRIPT Narrator: How Are You, Choi-Seonsaeng?, by April Choi, MD...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, "Chasing Milestones" by Dr. Ameish Govindarajan, a post-doctoral research fellow at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center. The essay is followed by an interview with Govindarajan and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. As a young physician, Govindarajan shares his personal and professional experiences as a cancer patient with non-small cell lung cancer...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, "Guilt and Gratitude," by Dr. Ilana Hellmann, attending physician at Meir Medical Center in Israel. The essay is followed by an interview with Hellmann and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. Hellmann explores the guilt surrounding the toxic consequences of chemotherapy and her gratitude for the patients who continue to connect with their physicians, even...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, "People Like Us," by Dr. Stephanie Graff. The essay is followed by an interview with Graff and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. Graff reflects on her life experience as a female physician, farmer's daughter, mother, and pie connoisseur to connect and help her patients get through a life-altering diagnosis. TRANSCRIPT Narrator : People Like Us, by Stepha...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, "Preparing for the End Game," by Dr. William Beck, a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Professor of Pharmacology and Molecular Genetics at The University of Illinois at Chicago. The essay is followed by an interview with Beck and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. Beck reflects on his own mortality and what it means to live, following his go...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, "Being on The Other Side; An Oncologist's Perspective on Grieving," by Shannon MacDonald, an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and a Radiation Oncologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital & Mass General Brigham. The reading is followed by an interview with host Dr. Lidia Schapira and essay author Shannon MacDonald. MacDonald shar...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay "Mudras in Medicine: A Role for Dance in Appreciating Non-Verbal Communication in the Clinical Encounter," by Drs. Maheetha Bharadwaj, Nagda Dipal, et al. Essay authors Dr. Bharadwaj, a urology resident at the University of Washington, and co-author Dr. Dipal, a medical student at Harvard Medical School, are interviewed by host Dr. Lidia Schapira...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay, "The Will to Go On," by Dr. Sumit Shah, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine and Oncology and Medical Director of Digital Health at Stanford University School of Medicine. The reading is followed by an interview with host Dr. Lidia Schapira and essay author Dr. Shah. Dr. Shah explores a patient's will to live and recounts witnessing a powerf...

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology essay "The Side Effects of Caring," by Dr. Aarti Kamat, a pediatric hematology/ oncology fellow at the University of Michigan. The reading is followed by an interview with host Dr. Lidia Schapira and essay author Dr. Kamat, where they discuss coping with Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) after Dr. Kamat has a triggering experience with a teenage patient...

"A Life and a Death in Haiku," by J. Russell Hoverman: a brother shares haikus and photos dear to his family around his brother's end-of-life care.   TRANSCRIPT A Life and a Death in Haiku, by John John Russell Hoverman, MD, PhD ( 10.1200/JCO.21.02835 )   My brother, Jim, was diagnosed at age 73 years with colon cancer metastatic to the liver, lymph nodes, and lungs. He and his wife were avid hike...