The OJC Episode 32: When the Oncologist Gets Cancer

The Oncology Podcast, brought to you by Oncology News Australia, is proud to present Episode 31 in our series The Oncology Journal Club.

This week we have a very special episode – we are exploring what happens when the oncologist gets cancer. Three fantastic guests share their unique, very personal, stories of cancer with us.

We start with a giant in the Australian oncology world – Professor Grant McArthur who is director of the VCCC. We hear from our friend Mark Lewis from the US who shares his experiences as a physician-patient who has multiple neuroendocrine neoplasia type 1. He is an avid Twitter user and even live tweeted his Whipple surgical procedure in 2017.

We close this special episode with an incredibly poignant and moving interview with Heidi Probst, Professor of Radiotherapy and Oncology at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK. In 2018 Heidi was diagnosed with stage 2b breast cancer and underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This experience has had a profound effect on her work.

Thank you to Grant, Mark and Heidi for trusting us with these personal experiences. We hope you enjoy today’s episode and find it valuable in your practice.

About The Oncology Journal Club:

We have taken an old concept and updated it with a new format. In each episode a team of expert contributors will review topical journal papers and interview special guests who are leaders in their fields to help keep you informed of the latest developments on the go.

With The Oncology Podcast – and The Oncology Journal Club in particular – we are aiming to deliver oncology news differently,” Rachael Babin, Editor-in-Chief, Oncology News.

The Oncology Journal Club is hosted by Professor Eva Segelov, from Monash University. Eva is joined by Dr Craig Underhill from Albury-Wodonga and Professor Hans Prenen from Antwerp, Belgium. We hope you enjoy listening and find this a valuable and entertaining resource.

Other Episodes Mentioned:

The OJC Meets Grant McArthur

This Week’s Team:

Professor Eva Segelov

Eva Segelov

Professor Eva Segelov is a Medical Oncologist and is Director of Oncology at Monash University and Monash Health, Melbourne, Victoria, previously Senior Medical Oncologist at St Vincent’s Hospital, St Vincent’s Private Hospital and St Vincent’s Clinic and Associate Professor of Medicine, University of New South Wales.

Eva has an interest in academic clinical trials in GI and breast cancer and has been a member of the AGITG since 2003. She has clinical trials expertise, links with national and international trials groups, and extensive experience with adult medical education.

You can find Eva on Twitter here: @profevasegelov

Professor Grant McArthur

Grant McArthur

Professor Grant McArthur is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and holds a Ph.D. in Medical Biology.   He is the Executive Director of the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre; inaugural Lorenzo Galli Chair of Melanoma and Skin Cancers at the University of Melbourne and is a Senior Principal Research Fellow (NHMRC).  He is also Head of the Molecular Oncology Laboratory and of the Cancer Therapeutics Program, Cancer Research, and a Senior Consultant Medical Oncologist, Cancer Medicine at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.

Find Grant on Twitter here: @McArthurGrant

Dr Mark Lewis

Mark Lewis

Dr. Mark A. Lewis received his medical degree, completed his internal medicine residency, and served as chief resident at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, USA. After completing a hematology/oncology fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he served as chief fellow, he returned to Houston to work at the MD Anderson Cancer Center for four years, with a dual appointment in general & gastrointestinal medical oncology, before assuming the directorship of gastrointestinal oncology at Intermountain Healthcare in 2016. He is also the co-chair of adolescent & young adult (AYA) oncology in the SWOG cooperative group, currently serving a five-year term in that position.

Find Mark on Twitter here: @marklewismd

Professor Heidi Probst

Heidi qualified as a Therapeutic Radiographer in 1987 from the London Hospital, Whitechapel (UK), and worked for the NHS for 14 years where her specialist area was pre-treatment imaging. Heidi started her PhD while a clinical radiographer in Leeds, she was awarded a fellowship from the Department of Health to complete her PhD qualifying in 2002.

Heidi joined Sheffield Hallam University as a senior lecturer in 2001, was appointed Reader in Radiotherapy in 2013 and Professor of Radiotherapy and Oncology in June 2015. Heidi is currently the Director of the Health Research Institute at Sheffield Hallam University.

Heidi is the founder and chair of the Breast Radiotherapy Interest Group (BRIG), a professional group for Therapeutic Radiographers (Radiation Therapists) and dosimetrists specialising in radiotherapy for breast cancer. Heidi is also chief investigator for two radiotherapy breast cancer studies: the SuPPORT 4 All (S4A) study and the Respire project (https://www.shu.ac.uk/research/in-action/projects/designing-a-bra-for-radiotherapy, www.respire.org.uk). In the S4A project a special support bra has been designed for women to wear during breast irradiation to reduce long term morbidity to the lungs and heart while providing dignity and modesty and empowering patients. The Respire project is a co-design study that has developed patient information for patients and carers on breast/chest wall irradiation and to allow patients to develop their ability to undertake breath hold techniques if this is required for treatment.

In 2018 Heidi was diagnosed with stage 2b breast cancer and underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Find Heidi on Twitter here: @HeidiProbst

Rachael Babin

Connect with us on Twitter @OncologyNewsAus