Dana-farber Cancer Institute

Palliative care is an often misunderstood specialty, focused on providing support and pain management strategies to cancer patients throughout all stages of their illness. This approach, which can be blended into curative cancer therapy, focuses on care for the whole person: mind, body, and spirit. But is it only for patients at end-of-life? And how does it differ from hospice care? In this episode of Cancer Mythbusters, we explore this common misconception and dive into how palliative care really works with James Tulsky, MD, chair of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care at Dana-Farber.

Clinical trials are scientific studies in which new treatments — drugs, diagnostic procedures, and other therapies — are tested to determine if they are safe and effective for patients. Nearly all cancer drugs in use today were tested and made available to patients through clinical trials, making them a crucial component of cancer research. But what does it mean for a patient to enroll in a clinical trial? In this episode of Cancer Mythbusters, we break down common myths and questions about how these trials work with the help of Geoffrey Shapiro, MD, PhD, director of the Early Drug Development Center at Dana-Farber.

A cancer diagnosis can inspire many questions, one of the most common being, “How did I get this disease?” There are a host of different causes, and in many cases, researchers do not have a definitive answer. But is it possible for cancer to spread from person to person? In this episode of Cancer Mythbusters, we’ll tackle this question with the help of Dana-Farber's Ann S. LaCasce, MD, MMSc — and explore how to reduce the negative stigma that some cancer patients face as a result of their diagnoses.

Every time tobacco is inhaled, it creates conditions in the body almost ideally suited to the formation of cancer. So how do experts explain lung cancer in non-smokers — and what are the significant risk factors for lung cancer other than smoking? Geoffrey Oxnard, MD, a medical oncologist at Dana-Farber’s Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology, helps us get to the bottom of this, and other misconceptions about lung cancer and smoking, in the latest episode of Cancer Mythbusters.

Despite the fact that cancer survivorship is on the rise, it may seem that cancer is everywhere — and that there’s nothing we can do about it. But are we really powerless to stop certain cancers from coming our way? Or, at least, to lessen the chances of developing those cancers? With the help of Huma Q. Rana, MD, clinical director of Cancer Genetics and Prevention at Dana-Farber, we dive into our latest myth: there’s nothing you can do to lessen your chances of developing cancer.

Most breast lumps are not cancer. But many myths persist about the relationship between the two — including whether a woman can tell if a lump is cancer by the way it feels, and whether a small lump is less likely to be cancer than a large lump. With the help of Beth Overmoyer, MD, director of the inflammatory breast cancer program at Dana-Farber’s Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers, we debunk these myths and other common questions about breast lumps and cancer.

From 2016: Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, director of clinical research for Dana-Farber’s Gastrointestinal Cancer Center, discusses colorectal cancer prevention, including screening, risk factors, and ways to lower risk.

When Linda Solomon, a trained medical technologist, saw the results of her routine complete blood count in 2009, she knew it wasn’t good news. Solomon, then 61, was diagnosed with stage III multiple myeloma – and given three years to survive. Several rounds of chemotherapy, two stem cell transplants, and eight years later, Solomon is still here, although life looks different than it did before. In the latest episode of Voices, Solomon recounts her treatment experience and coming to terms with a late-stage cancer. She is also joined by her husband, Alan, to talk about his caregiving experience and what life is like for them now.

Gabby Spear, a young, active mom, had never noticed a lump or pain before suddenly finding her breast cancer in November 2013, when she was 38. She was shocked. Hear Spear share what her treatment was like, how it affected her family, and how she talks about her BRCA-positive cancer with her two daughters.

Amy McHugh's daughter, Emily Coughlin, was a normal, active 4-year-old, until she started experiencing knee pain the ultimately led to a diagnosis of high-risk neuroblastoma. Listen as McHugh recalls what the experience was like for her and her family, and hear from Emily, now 11, what she remembers from her time in treatment.

When Mike Johnston felt a lump in his chest in 2009, he assumed it was a side effect of a high blood pressure medication. But after a routine doctor's visit, followed by a mammogram and ultrasound, Johnston's diagnosis was confirmed: He had male breast cancer. Hear Johnston reflect on his diagnosis and treatment, including how friends and family reacted to the news and why he has become such a big breast cancer advocate today.

Ben Blaisdell was a popular 16-year-old when he started experiencing uncharacteristic chills, which eventually led to the surprising news that he had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Listen as he reads his college application essay about the experience, and discusses with his mother the effect it had on their family and how they are doing today.

When Catherine Goff was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma while attending college in the 1970s, it was the shock of a lifetime. Less surprising — but still life-changing — was her later diagnosis with breast cancer, a common secondary cancer for patients like Goff. Listen as she explains how the two diagnoses affected her physically and emotionally, and as she shares how she is doing today.

Treatment ends. And you’re home free. That’s what many friends and family think. But cancer patients know that the time after your treatment ends can be unsettling. While the physical and logistical challenges of managing chemotherapy, radiation or surgery may be behind you, the prospect of dealing with cancer without the safety net of weekly — or even daily — contact with your care team can be daunting.

Stupid things. We all say them. And cancer patients have heard them all — from the insensitive to the absurd, from nutrition tips to fertility advice, and just about everything in between. While patients can laugh (hopefully)at the remarks in hindsight, they can initially cut deep, making patients question their decisions.

Brain tumors can be among the most challenging cancers to treat. Patrick Wen, MD, and David Reardon, MD, of Dana-Farber’s Center for Neuro-Oncology, discuss immunotherapy, targeted therapies, precision medicine, and other new approaches that are improving treatment for brain tumors.

From 2016: Prostate cancer affects 230,000 men each year. Mark Pomerantz, MD, a medical oncologist in Dana-Farber’s Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, discusses genetics, risk factors, and the controversy surrounding the PSA test, a test that can detect levels of prostate-specific antigen in the body.

If you’re 69 and diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, what do you do? For John Barrett, the answer was easy: become a certified physical trainer. But as Barrett and Nancy Campbell, exercise physiologist at Dana-Farber, both point out, you don’t need to be an exercise zealot to incorporate exercise into your life. “Exercise needs to be a lifestyle, not an event,” Barrett says. For cancer patients in particular, it’s about working exercise into the fabric of your everyday life. That’s not always easy. A cancer diagnosis can be challenging for lifelong exercisers who need to recalibrate their expectations and goals; and it can be hard for patients who have never exercised to get started while fighting fatigue and other symptoms of treatment.

Gabby Spear and Colleen Sullivan discuss the ups and downs of balancing motherhood and breast cancer, how they communicated about their diagnosis, and how their roles changed throughout the course of treatment.

From 2016: Geoffrey Oxnard, MD, from Dana-Farber's Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology discusses the rapid pace of lung cancer research and resulting treatment advances — including targeted therapies and individualized treatment plans — that provide the right drug for the right patient at the right time.