Smarter Than Cancer

For many patients, a cancer diagnosis doesn’t just raise medical questions. It raises existential ones, too. Questions about meaning, belief, and what comes next. In this episode, Hajar and David explore the role of faith and spirituality in the cancer journey, and what it looks like to search for comfort, certainty, or understanding when so much feels out of your control.Keep up with all things Smarter Than Cancer and let us know what you think of the show at https://www.roswellpark.org/smarterthancancer

What does it really mean to meet a community where they are? In this episode, David explores the nuances of community outreach in cancer care, and why a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t always work.Focusing on Indigenous communities in and around Buffalo, they speak with Dr. Rodney Herring and community outreach coordinator Will Maybee about the deep-rooted health disparities facing Native populations—and the historical trauma that helps explain them. From mistrust in the medical system to barriers in access and cultural understanding, they unpack the complex realities behind the data.Keep up with all things Smarter Than Cancer and let us know what you think of the show at https://www.roswellpark.org/smarterthancancer

Cancer is often thought of as a disease of older age. But tens of thousands of people are diagnosed each year in their teens, twenties, and thirties. And for them, this diagnosis arrives right in the middle of building a life. In this episode, Hajar and David explore what it’s like to face cancer as a young adult, when careers are just beginning, relationships are still forming, and questions about family, identity, and the future are far from settled. They look at why cancer is often harder to recognize in younger patients, how diagnoses can be delayed, and the loneliness of going through cancer when no one around you can relate.Keep up with all things Smarter Than Cancer and let us know what you think of the show at https://www.roswellpark.org/smarterthancancer

Cancer doesn’t just take a toll on the body, it can also take a serious toll on a person’s financial life. In this episode, Hajar talks with Tameka Brooks, a financial empowerment coach at Roswell Park, and Dr. Anurag Singh, a radiation oncologist and researcher, about something called financial toxicity, the stress and burden patients experience as a result of the financial impact of cancer.They explore how insurance confusion, lost income, housing insecurity, and out-of-pocket costs can compound the challenges of treatment, why many patients feel too ashamed or uncomfortable to bring up financial concerns with their doctors, and how that stress can actually affect health outcomes and survival.Keep up with all things Smarter Than Cancer and let us know what you think of the show at https://www.roswellpark.org/smarterthancancer

Laura Mango is a doctor, but that didn’t make it any easier when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. What it did do is completely change how she sees herself, her work, and her relationship with the people she cares for. In today’s episode, she sits down with David to talk about her parallel journeys as a doctor, a patient, and a mother, and how each has made the others richer and more profound.Keep up with all things Smarter Than Cancer and let us know what you think of the show at https://www.roswellpark.org/smarterthancancer

We’ve looked at some amazing science on Smarter Than Cancer, but today we’re going to hear about maybe the amazing-est. CAR-T Cell therapy takes a truly outrageous concept — using modified viruses to alter the DNA of white blood cells — and turns it into one of the most promising cancer treatments ever devised.

Hair loss is one of the most visible, and emotional, side effects of cancer treatment. In this episode, David and Hajar explore why something as simple as losing your hair can have such a profound impact on self-image and identity. At Roswell Park’s New Era Cap Foundation Elevate Salon, patients find more than wigs and head coverings—they find compassion, confidence, and a sense of control in a time when so much feels uncertain.Keep up with all things Smarter Than Cancer and let us know what you think of the show at https://www.roswellpark.org/smarterthancancer

We all have the feeling that being stressed is bad for our health, but does that have any basis in science? Can our frame of mind really affect the course of a disease like cancer? Dr. Betsy Repasky, a researcher at Roswell Park, sits down with David to talk about how those connections are more real than you might think.  Keep up with all things Smarter Than Cancer and let us know what you think of the show at https://www.roswellpark.org/smarterthancancer

For the series premiere, David dives into the most basic question of all: what is cancer? Turns out it has a lot to do with the fundamental nature of your cells, and not much at all to do with the way we usually think of disease.Keep up with all things Smarter Than Cancer and let us know what you think of the show at https://www.roswellpark.org/smarterthancancer