A lot of cancers don’t get diagnosed until the disease is somewhat advanced. Dr. Bea Bakshi founded her company, C the Signs, to change that. They use artificial intelligence to comb through medical records and identify when a patient should be screened for cancer – and it catches disease far earlier than a human doctor could. She tells Chuck about their success integrating into the National Health System in the UK, and their plans to launch in the United States.

A new blood test called Cancerguard is pushing the boundaries of cancer early detection. The test is widely available, and has the ability to screen for more than 50 cancer types. In this episode, Chuck talks with Dr. Tom Beer of Exact Sciences, the company behind the Cancerguard test.

The earlier a cancer is detected, the more possibilities there are for effective treatment. In this episode, Chuck and Alicia talk with Dr. Nickolas Papadopoulos about his research into how indications of cancer can show up in the blood, long before symptoms arise.

We all know that exercise is good for us, but historically there hasn’t been much data on how much exercise – or what kind of exercise – might have benefits for cancer patients. In this episode, Chuck and Alicia talk with Kerry Courneya of the University of Alberta about his study that looked into the question of exercise for patients with colorectal cancer. The results, which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, show that exercise could be even better than we think.

Colorectal cancer rates are on the rise, particularly among young people. And the standard of care treatments can have lifelong impacts on a patient's quality of life – but new immunotherapies could change that. Dr. Andrea Cercek joins Chuck and Alicia to talk about the immunotherapy drug Dostarlimab, which is ushering in a new era of cancer treatment.

Before the early 2000s, there were no effective treatments for chronic myelogenous leukemia, a blood cancer. Then came Imatinib. This drug dramatically improved survival and quality of life for patients with this disease. It also ushered in a new era of cancer treatment, with drugs that directly target tumor cells. In this episode, Chuck and Alicia talk with Dr. Brian Druker, a renowned physician scientist who was the main force behind the development of Imatinib.

As more people live longer and healthier lives following a cancer diagnosis, it brings up all kinds of questions about what is possible and safe. In this episode, Chuck and Alicia talk with Dr. Ann Partridge of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute about her work looking into how breast cancer survivors can have healthy pregnancies.

In September, Dana-Farber is hosting the 2025 Cancer Centers Survivorship Research Forum. Find more information and register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cancer-centers-survivorship-research-forum-2025-registration-1270679660069

An estimated 1.6 million people in the U.S. are living with or in remission from blood cancer. Many of these people are children. Today, thanks to the work of clinicians and researchers like Dr. Andy Kolb of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, those patients are living longer and undergoing less toxic treatments. In this episode, Dr. Kolb joins Chuck and Alicia to explain how his organization is improving the lives of patients with leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and other blood cancers.