Yale Answers

I used to listen to the local radio show "Yale Cancer Center Answers" a lot more often than I do now. Apparently, I missed some recent lymphoma-related shows in the last few months.

The show, which airs on Sunday nights, is hosted by a couple of Yale medical school professors, both oncologists. Each week, they discuss a cancer-related topic, with an expert guest. It's often about recent advances for a particular type of cancer, but they also do shows related to emotional and psychological issues,information for caregivers, healthy eating for patients, and that sort of thing. It's very informative, and they do a fantastic job of making the topics understandable. (I didn't really under stem cell transplants until I heard their show on the topic. It's from 2009.)

The shows can be searched by topic, or by date.

Last month (January 13), they did a show on hematologic malignancies -- blood cancers of all types. The show did address lymphomas, but also leukemias and other blood diseases. It covered a lot in an hour. Nothing terribly specific, but it did give a nice overview of blood cancers.

In October (gosh, I didn't realize it had been that long since I'd listened), they did a show called "Advances in the Treatment of Lymphoma." This is where they really got into the good stuff. Again, it's not hugely specific, but it provides a very good overview of what lymphoma is, how it is diagnosed, and how, in general, it is treated. The "Advances" is a little bit of a misrepresentation; they don't discuss many specific treatments by name, though they do mention Rituxan. Other than that, they discuss RIT in general, and the importance of clinical trials. I think they don't want a radio show to be construed as providing specific medical advice, which is understandable.

I think the show's great strength is that it is a good source of information. They do cover lymphomas every few months, but, as I said above, they cover lots of other topics that would be of interest to any cancer patient, no matter what the specific diagnosis.

I recommend it as a good starting place for understanding your cancer. Tell your friends.