Going Viral - No one should die from embarrassment

There is a clear call to create a space for sharing experiences in IANS' many languages, where exchange is often richer and more precise. This open and honest exchange, with the help of two talented interpreters, taught us that opportunities exist for IANS to rethink how to move toward more inclusive, multilingual exchanges that reflect the international community it serves. Drs. Valéria Uellner a...

Dr. Tamzin Cuming — a colorectal surgeon and the second woman president of the International Anal Neoplasia Society (IANS) — discusses teamwork, gender bias, and the urgent need to destigmatize conversations about anal cancer. She highlights IANS's impact on her career and its commitment to structured training and organized prevention, urging clinicians to listen carefully, examine thoroughly, and...

With a background in colorectal surgery and health informatics, as well as a passion for promoting prevention within the LGBTQ+ community, Dr. Elliot Aroniadis accomplished something unprecedented. At the Twin Cities Pride Event in 2023, his group, Save The Bottoms, provided on-site self-screening for anal pre-cancer and cancer. A few days later, his presentation about the success of this event at...

Bottom Line A candid and delightful discussion with two pioneers who are shaping the awareness of anal and colorectal cancer in the LGBTQ+ community. What do an entrepreneur and a stand-up comic have in common?  A desire to raise awareness for the LGBTQ+ community about anal and colorectal cancers. David founded Cheeky Charity following his own health scare with colorectal cancer in 2021. Daniel h...

Today, gender care is fluid, but in 2012, in the early days of ANCHOR, it took the NY Times and a brave Boston gynecologist to shift the direction of focus of anal cancer prevention. On the other coast, a self-described radical feminist was told that "the anus is just like the cervix," and a historical career began. In this podcast, Drs. Beth Stier and Naomi Jay discuss how they collaborated to bu...

Anal Cancer Foundation - Passion, Determination & Love:  A Conversation with Justine & Camille Almada For Justine, Camille, and Tristian Almada anal cancer is personal. After losing their dear mother, Paulette, to Stage IV HPV-related anal cancer in 2010, the siblings set out to change the course of this disease. In her honor, they created what they wished had been available to them, The Anal Canc...

IMPROVING BARRIERS TO INTIMACY – A TOOLBOX Irena Nurkic is a specialist in continence and pelvic health physiotherapist at the Royal Perth Hospital in Western Australia. With over fifteen years of in-depth clinical expertise in management of pelvic health conditions in women, men and transgender persons, she lectures and serves as a clinical tutor at Curtin University. In this interview Irena gene...

In this podcast Dr. Wong discusses how a talk he heard about HRA, high resolution anoscopy, piqued his interest in something he knew nothing about. He reasoned because he was caring for HIV patients that he should know more. He found his way to places where HRA was done and where he could be trained. His interest and dedication took him from his home in Hong Kong to Australia, to New York and San...

Dr. Mary Birdsall didn't see herself getting anal cancer, and neither did her physician colleagues. As a GYN specializing in IVF she found herself, not the expert, but the "man on the street." In this interview, she speaks frankly and passionately about her own struggle to have her symptoms taken seriously and her commitment to agitate for primary and secondary prevention. She shares of how deeply...

Dr. Joel Palefsky discusses his long career and trailblazing research . He discusses the cervical model which informed his research. He talks of the success of his groundbreaking ANCHOR study, a large clinical trial that found , as with the cervix , treating anal precancerous growths greatly reduces the chance of developing cancer .     As h is work evolved, Palefsky's vision expanded. He saw a ne...

THE ANUS HAS A PERCEPTION PROBLEM   The founders of the HPV Cancers Alliance, Lillian Kreppel and actress, Marcia Cross speak frankly about how their own experience with anal cancer became the impetus to get the word out about HPV – related cancers. One had symptoms that were dismissed, the other no symptoms. It's the difference between life and death that women ask their GYNs for a simple DARE ex...

BE PRESENT FOR THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE Alana Stewart stayed at Farrah Fawcett's side supporting and advocating, through treatments and ultimately her friend's heartbreaking death. This interview with the president of the Farrah Fawcett Foundation, reflects the kindness and love present in the pages of her best-selling book, My Journey With Farrah. A Story of Life, Love and Friendship. With warmth and...

New York City general surgeon, Stephen Goldstone, was working in the realm of ano-rectal surgery, when he began noticing "strange histology." At the same time, the University of California San Francisco, UCSF, was doing early research on anal cancer and pre-cancer. What he calls "a match made in heaven" combined research and treatment and heralded historic change in how anal cancer would be talked...

Anal cancer and pre-cancer detection and treatment is a new and highly specialized field. Dr. Luis Barroso, president of IANS, discusses the organization as a resource for patients and providers. He shares the medical society's vision that includes publishing guidelines and expanding the infrastructure for Anal Cancer and Dysplasia around the world.

An Introduction to Going Viral How did we get here? Today, you will you will get to know our podcasters for "Going Viral: No one should die from embarrassment", Dr. Eric Ganz and Mary-Jo Murphy, and how this podcast came to be.  Dr. Ganz is a board-certified ObGyn and Anal Dysplasia expert and Mary-Jo Murphy is a Registered Nurse, Patient Advocate, and anal cancer survivor.  You'll hear their pers...