Yale Cancer Answers
Yale Cancer Answers is a weekly radio show on WNPR focused on cancer screening, detection, treatment, and prevention to provide the latest information to listeners.
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Eric: Head and Neck Cancer Survivor
Eric Bowles was 16 when he noticed what he thought was a canker sore on the side of his tongue. Over the next month the sore gradually grew, but only bothered him if directly touched. During routine x-rays at the dentist’s office, Eric asked them to be careful since he had a spot on his tongue that was sensitive. The dentist took one look and called an oral surgeon who met with Eric the next day and performed a biopsy of the lesion. Everyone was shocked when the diagnosis came back as squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue. Read More
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Bill: Melanoma Survivor
Bill Brown went to his primary care doctor and a local hospital in 2011 because he had swollen glands in his armpit. At the time, he made no connection between the discomfort he was feeling and the stage I melanoma lesion that his dermatologist had diagnosed and excised ten years prior. Read More
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Jeanne: Pancreatic Cancer Survivor
Jeanne Czel went from enjoying retirement and playing golf in a benefit tournament in North Carolina, to a month later undergoing what would be one of the most difficult years of her life. It started with an uncomfortable feeling in her chest that she attributed to heart burn or acid reflux, although she had never experienced either before. After undergoing blood work, an MRI and a CAT scan, received a diagnosis of stage IV pancreatic cancer. Read More
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Luke: Retinoblastoma Survivor
When 14-month-old Luke McDermott was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, his doctor told Luke’s parents that he would try to save the baby’s life, eye and vision. “That’s the order,” he said. “If we have to, we will remove his eye to save his life. Read More
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Greg: Breast Cancer Survivor
As a 39 year old man, the last thought on Greg DeMarco’s mind was that he could be diagnosed with breast cancer. He noticed a stain on the shirt he was wearing, and realized it was blood and that it was coming from his left nipple. Worried that something serious might be wrong, he scheduled an appointment with his general practitioner for the next day. They ran several tests, all of which came back normal. Unable to find a cause for the bleeding, Greg was sent for a mammogram where a calcification and a blockage of his duct were found. Read More
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Henry: Leukemia Survivor
Jenna and Brendan Baker were faced with the most difficult challenge of their life when their seemingly healthy two year old son was diagnosed with cancer. He went to the pediatrician with a fever that was not responding to the normal remedies. A blood test raised the suspicion for cancer and immediately Henry was sent to the Emergency Department at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital where doctors confirmed his diagnosis. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Read More
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Marjorie: Breast and Cervical Cancer Survivor
Marjorie was diagnosed with Stage 3B cervical cancer and was treated with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy followed by a hysterectomy. Many years later she awoke with a pain in her outer breast. After two mammograms and two ultrasounds, she met Dr. Anees Chagpar, Director of the Breast Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital. Dr. Chagpar told her that there were two masses in the outer side of her right breast. Read More
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Maureen Raucci, RN and Cheryl Gans, RN
Patient and Cancer Information
Yale Cancer Center is Connecticut's only cancer center designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute- and one of only 49 in the nation. The significance of this designation has profound implications for those who choose Smilow Cancer Hospital as the place where they will be cared for and receive treatment for their cancer. National Cancer Institute cancer centers are national leaders in cancer research, prevention, detection, and treatment. This provides patients at Smilow Cancer Hospital with novel treatment options and expert care.
