Everyone touched by cancer knows treatments vary depending on the type of cancer. Now, with precision medicine for some cancers, treatments can be tailored to that cancer.

In this podcast, Dr. James Hamrick, MD, MPH, explains what precision medicine means for cancer patients and updates listeners on developments in testicular cancer treatments.

Dr. Hamrick is the chairman of the Caris Precision Oncology Alliance, known as Caris POA at Caris Life Sciences. He leads a global network of top cancer centers and research institutions dedicated to advancing precision oncology and biomarker-driven research, and he will tell us all about it.

Dr. Hamrick is board-certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hematology. He earned his MD and MPH in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina and completed his residency and fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco.

Now - back to precision medicine. Here's what Dr. Hamrick explains in the podcast.

00:09:55
"When we treat a cancer, it's all about hitting the cancer, the bad part, and not hurting the rest of the person. And so the more we understand the targets we should be hitting in these tumors, the better we can design treatments that hit those targets and leave the rest of the cells in a person's body alone.

"What does that mean?

"It means fewer side effects, so more effectiveness. So when you hear precision medicine, think about this: this is where my doctor is not just treating me for cancer. Not just treating me for lung cancer, but is working to understand exactly what is driving my cancer and how can we best target that so I have the best outcome, meaning we can kill those cancer cells, right?

"And the fewest side effects. That's really precision oncology. Biomarkers bio. We all know from high school biology class that the life sciences markers are the targets. So these are the targets that we can now use at Caris and other vendors. We can say, hey, that's the problem here.

"It's not just one testicular cell that went bad; it's one that has this certain molecular profile. So I tell patients: You should ask your doctors, Hey, what biomarkers do we care about? What is important? What are we targeting? What's valuable here?

"And that's part of becoming fluent in the language of your cancer, which, as many caregivers know, is really important."

Dr. Hamrick talks more about testicular cancer and the need to find genetic biomarkers for it. He explains that and related research about testicular and other types of cancer in this episode of Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer from the Max Mallory Foundation.

Links:
Caris Precision Oncology Alliance - Caris POA
https://www.carislifesciences.com/partners/caris-precision-oncology-alliance/

James Hamrick, MD, MPH
https://www.carislifesciences.com/bio/james-hamrick-md-mph/

Max Mallory Foundation
https://www.maxmalloryfoundation.com

Don't Give Up on Testicular Cance

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Scott Capozza, PT, MSPT, is a board-certified physical therapist who specializes in oncology at Yale Cancer Center.

More than 20 years ago, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer while in graduate school at age 22. As he explained in an article about his cancer journey, “Suddenly I had to schedule an orchiectomy, a retroperitoneal lymph node dissection, and two cycles of chemotherapy around lectures, laboratory work, and practical exams.”

Scott shares his experiences with testicular cancer then and now, along with what he's doing to support cancer patients and survivors through physical therapy.

Patient advocacy: Recently, as a patient advocate and testicular cancer survivor, Scott has spoken at conferences to share his lived experiences. He explains this role in the podcast.

"It almost is our responsibility or our obligation to get in front of these medical providers to say, you have to listen to your patients. You have to make these shared decisions with your patient. You can't blindly take the shotgun approach, give the treatment, and be done with it. You have to factor in quality of life. You have to factor in who that person is..."

Hear more from Scott Capozza about his work as an oncology-focused physical therapist, father, patient advocate, and testicular cancer survivor in this episode of Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer from the Max Mallory Foundation.

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To our listeners: Joyce Lofstrom recorded this conversation with testicular cancer survivor Andrew Barrow before the month of Movember. Now, with this month of awareness for men's health in full force, know that the advertising and fundraising efforts Andrew describes in the podcast were active before Movember began and continue throughout the month.

Andrew Barrow and Joyce Lofstrom open this podcast with a discussion about Andrew's advertising business, Revenue Arc. Keep listening as the story segues to his testicular cancer story.

In fact, testicular cancer doesn't run in Andrew Barrow's family. However, cancer, specifically lymphoma and melanoma, took his grandmother's life.

As a kid, Andrew watched Tom Green's MTV documentary on testicular cancer, where Tom shared his testicular cancer story.

"I was absolutely fascinated by it because I had never heard of testicular cancer. I was probably in middle school at the time, and this blew me away. He had this song that got stuck in my head. The main hook of the song is, 'Check your balls, kids, check them every day.'

"And I did. I was scared to death by that moment. I did this routine every day for my entire life, thinking it would never happen to me. And then one day I found a lump."

He was treated at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, and did not need follow-up treatment after the orchiectomy. He and his wife had one child, and after the surgery, they became pregnant and welcomed their second child.

Andrew shares more about his testicular cancer journey, his business, and his philosophy on life: live in the moment, take care of yourself, and enjoy life to the fullest now.

Enjoy this episode and others of Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer from the Max Mallory Foundation.

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Find us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook & Linkedin.

If you can please support our nonprofit through Patreon.