Taking Control of Cancer

In June's news episode Steve Bland and Femi Odewale are joined by Nellie Gbadebo, CEO & Founder of Touchy-Feely, the UK's leading creative and cultural cancer organisation, to talk about the month's cancer news AND a very special event on July 18th in Shoreditch! The North East London Cancer Alliance and Touchy-Feely are taking over Shoreditch and turning it into The Girls' Bathroom . Think am...

Recorded on World Prostate Cancer Day, this episode Taking Control of Cancer explores one of the most important ways to improve outcomes for men with prostate cancer: understanding your risk and getting checked early.   In this special episode, host Steve Bland is joined by Dr Bunmi Olajide, a GP in north east London and a passionate advocate for raising awareness of prostate cancer, particularly...

Early detection saves lives, and your GP is your first line of defence. In this episode of Taking Control of Cancer, recorded live at a men’s health event on World Prostate Cancer Day, host Steve Bland speaks with Dr Toby Lambeth, GP and Health Inequalities Lead (Tower Hamlets and Hackney) at Operose Health, who is passionate about improving early cancer diagnosis and tackling health inequalities....

Following last year’s episode on protecting your skin and staying safe in the sun, Taking Control of Cancer returns to tackle one of the biggest challenges in skin health: misinformation. In this episode, host Steve Bland is joined once again by Dr Tom McLeod, Clinical Lead for the Skin Expert Reference Group at North East London Cancer Alliance, and Rosie O’Dea, Project Manager in Diagnosis &...

What we eat plays a powerful role in our health. In this episode, host Steve Bland is joined by Femi Odewale, Managing Director of North East London Cancer Alliance; Nitu Pasricha , Public Health Associate Nutritionist; and Amanda Henry, who has had blood cancer, to explore how healthy eating can help reduce the risk of cancer and support people living with and beyond a cancer diagnosis.  From eve...

It's May 2026 and we are back with another news episode where we dissect the ways in which cancer is making the news. In this episode Steve and Femi look into a new quantitative ultrasound which enables accurate prediction of three-year survival in locally advanced breast cancer; a new AI-driven way of identifying how patients with advanced bowel cancer will respond to a drug that was recently int...

In the second of our three special episodes recorded at Tower Hamlets Town Hall, host Steve Bland delves into the brand new AI and Digital Strategy launched by the North East London Cancer Alliance, with support from Pathfinder Intelligence. Steve chats to Wayne Douglas, formerly of the Alliance, George Hawkins and Sofija Venckute from Pathfinder and Dip Mukherjee, Consultant Upper GI & Laparo...

In the third and final episode of three special episodes recorded at Tower Hamlets Town Hall, host Steve Bland hears all about the new Health Inequalities Strategy, launched by the Alliance with support from the team at Claremont. Steve is joined by guests including Claremont managing director Ian Fannon; Caroline Cook, Early Diagnosis Programme Lead at the North East London Cancer Alliance and Ma...

In the first of three episodes recorded at a special event at Tower Hamlets Town Hall, host Steve Bland explores the North East London Cancer Alliance's new Workforce Strategy with guests including Yvonne Beadle, Workforce Programme Manager at the North East London Cancer Alliance, and Alison Hill, the Director of Cancer and Palliative Care Nursing at Barts Health NHS Trust. With cancer services f...

In this April 2026 news roundup episode, Steve Bland and Femi Odewale explore Bowel Cancer Awareness Month and the story of Joel, whose cancer was discovered after returning a bowel screening kit. Joel's encouraging others to do the same , as is Olympian Iwan Thomas. Former 400m runner Iwan says "please don't die of ignorance" after being diagnosed with cancerous cells in his bowel after initially...

Returning to work after cancer can be both a hopeful milestone and a daunting challenge. For many people living with and beyond cancer, work represents normality, purpose and financial security — but it can also bring anxiety, fatigue and difficult emotions.  In this episode of Taking Control of Cancer , host Steve Bland is joined by Mark Guymer, CEO of the charity Cancer Support UK , and Sarita Y...

In this episode of Taking Control of Cancer, host Steve Bland is joined by Dr Angela Wong, Chief Medical Officer, Sarita Yaganti, Programme Lead for Personalised Cancer Care, and Yvonne Beadle, Workforce Programme Manager, all from North East London Cancer Alliance. Together, they explore the development of the Alliance’s new Workforce Strategy and the extensive collaboration, insight, and commitm...

In this episode of Taking Control of Cancer , host Steve Bland is joined by Wayne Douglas, Diagnosis and Treatment Programme Lead, and Angela Wong, Chief Medical Officer, both from the North East London Cancer Alliance; and George Hawkins from Pathfinder Intelligence , to explore how the alliance is developing a comprehensive AI strategy aimed at improving cancer outcomes across the region. The di...

It's that time of the month again when Steve Bland and Femi Odewale dissect the month's cancer news - and this time it's March 2026. Steve and Femi cover National CNS Day, how the alliance is reducing cancer inequalities for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities ; research from the European Code Against Cancer which says tackling air pollution should be part of government work to cut cancer rates...

In this episode, host Steve Bland is joined by three international nurses currently working in cancer services across north east London - Angie Pol and Robbie Castro, Clinical Nurse Specialists at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and Kristine Mangaliag, a Clinical Nurse Specialist Lung Cancer at Whipps Cross Hospital. Together, they explore what it truly means to be an international nurse in the UK cance...

In this episode, host Steve Bland chats to Kate Williams, the Macmillan Cancer CNS Development Lead (CDL) for North East London Cancer Alliance, and Rani Petros, a Clinical Nurse Specialist Uro Oncology at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, to delve into an exciting new pilot project that aims to transform the future of cancer nursing across London.  The CDL pilot project is a three-year initiative, deliv...

The North East London Cancer Alliance has been working closely with local communities to develop a cancer inequalities strategy that aims to close the gap in cancer outcomes across the region. In this episode, host Steve Bland is joined by Caroline Cook, Early Diagnosis Programme Lead at the North East London Cancer Alliance, and Tiago Moutela, Associate Director at Claremont. Together, they explo...

Getting a bowel screening result is just the first step. For some, follow-up tests are needed to make sure everything is okay. In this episode of Taking Control of Cancer , host Steve Bland talks through what happens after bowel screening, what further tests might be recommended, and what you can expect from the process.  We also highlight why attending these appointments is so essential and how t...

In February's cancer news round-up, Steve Bland and Femi Odewale talk oesophageal cancer month , they explore a new pilot to use complex HIPEC surgery to treat ovarian cancer and discover how AI might help detect more early stage breast cancer. Plus Steve and Femi look at a new plan from NHS England to change bowel cancer screening to help detect more cancers earlier and potentially save lives acr...

In this episode of Taking Control of Cancer, Steve Bland is joined by Jay Scott-Nicholls, the Creative Director at Circus , and Dr Adam P Januszewski PhD MRCP, Consultant Medical Oncologist, Quality and Safety Lead at Barts Cancer Centre to explore how digital innovation is transforming the experience of cancer care across north east London, focusing on the launch of a new virtual hospital tour at...

For this World Cancer Day special episode, Steve Bland and Femi Odewale, Managing Director of North East London Cancer Alliance, are joined by Dr Jagan John — a GP at Aurora Medcare, GPwSI in Cardiology at BDCHS, Personalised Care Clinical Director for NHS England (London), and Primary Care Board Representative for NEL ICB.   Together, they explore the significance of World Cancer Day, the launch...

Bowel screening saves lives, but many people are unsure of what it involves or why it’s so important. In this episode of Taking Control of Cancer , we go back to basics to explain what bowel screening is, who can get it, and how it works.  Steve is joined by Caroline Cook, Programme Lead for Early Diagnosis at the North East London Cancer Alliance, and Leena Khagram from the NHS Bowel Screening Se...

Steve Bland and Femi Odewale are back with another look at the ways in which cancer is making the news. This time we're looking back on a January that's featured an update on King Charles's treatment, a new screening checker to see if YOU qualify for any screening programmes (click here ), a cancer diagnosis for a football legend and a call from a Yorkshire woman diagnosed with early stage breast...

In this episode of Taking Control of Cancer, host Steve Bland is joined by Caroline Dancyger, Psychosocial Clinical Lead for the North East London Cancer Alliance, to discuss the importance of addressing not just the physical impact of cancer, but also the emotional, psychological, and social challenges that come with it.  Caroline explains what the term ‘psychosocial support’ means, how patients...

In this episode Steve Bland is joined by Femi Odewale and Paul Thomas, from the North East London Cancer Alliance, to dissect the big cancer stories making the news in December 2025. In this episode: 1. The UK's National Screening Committee has recommended that only a very small group of men at high risk of prostate cancer should be screened for the disease. Read more here , check out our podcast...