Unraveled https://www.dana-farber.org/health-library/articles/unraveled/ en Copyright 2021 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute 450 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 Unraveled is Dana-Farber’s science podcast that explores the mysteries of the science of cancer. Veteran broadcaster Ken Shulman digs into the cutting-edge science that is transforming cancer research, and providing hope for scientists, and for cancer patients. https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/21d4b91e-df51-11eb-9dd4-0b0a5cfcb85c/image/Unraveled-Podcast_3000x3000_1_.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress Unraveled https://www.dana-farber.org/health-library/articles/unraveled/ no episodic A Dana-Farber Cancer Podcast about the Science of Cancer Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Unraveled is Dana-Farber’s science podcast that explores the mysteries of the science of cancer. Veteran broadcaster Ken Shulman digs into the cutting-edge science that is transforming cancer research, and providing hope for scientists, and for cancer patients. Unraveled is Dana-Farber’s science podcast that explores the mysteries of the science of cancer. Veteran broadcaster Ken Shulman digs into the cutting-edge science that is transforming cancer research, and providing hope for scientists, and for cancer patients.

]]> Dana-Farber Cancer Institute michael_buller@dfci.harvard.edu Season 2 Episode 6: Big Data, AI, and Cancer Research https://dana-farber.org/unraveled As our universe of knowledge expands, sometimes incrementally and more often, exponentially, its new dimensions create new challenges. The more we know, the better our tools are, the more choices we have. And that's great, but it's hard to distill mountains of patient data, clinical trials, therapies, discoveries, and a boatload of externalities. Hard to distill all of these into the best possible research and care. Oh, and don't forget the human genome in its almost infinite complexity. It can be overwhelming when you try to think about it absent, sort of having some help. But what kind of human mind could provide that help? Could it be that the help we need, the intelligence we need isn't human at all. Wed, 17 May 2023 08:00:00 -0000 Big Data, AI, and Cancer Research full 2 6 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute How AI experts, physicians, and ethicists are working together to apply AI to cancer research As our universe of knowledge expands, sometimes incrementally and more often, exponentially, its new dimensions create new challenges. The more we know, the better our tools are, the more choices we have. And that's great, but it's hard to distill mountains of patient data, clinical trials, therapies, discoveries, and a boatload of externalities. Hard to distill all of these into the best possible research and care. Oh, and don't forget the human genome in its almost infinite complexity. It can be overwhelming when you try to think about it absent, sort of having some help. But what kind of human mind could provide that help? Could it be that the help we need, the intelligence we need isn't human at all. As our universe of knowledge expands, sometimes incrementally and more often, exponentially, its new dimensions create new challenges. The more we know, the better our tools are, the more choices we have. And that's great, but it's hard to distill mountains of patient data, clinical trials, therapies, discoveries, and a boatload of externalities. Hard to distill all of these into the best possible research and care. Oh, and don't forget the human genome in its almost infinite complexity.

It can be overwhelming when you try to think about it absent, sort of having some help. But what kind of human mind could provide that help? Could it be that the help we need, the intelligence we need isn't human at all.

]]> 1686 Season 2 Episode 5: With a Little Help From My Friends: Combination Immunotherapy https://www.dana-farber.org/health-library/articles/unraveled/ If there is such a thing as a holy grail in cancer research, a secret spell or golden ring that can ward off any and all forms of the disease, it probably lives somewhere in the realm of immunotherapy. A new category of immunotherapy drugs, called checkpoint inhibitors, take the brakes off the immune system and let the T cells do their job: attack cancer. They've been approved for more than 25 different types of cancer.  However, the average response rate for checkpoint inhibitors is 20 to 30%, which means that it's not working for 70% of the people who take it. So that's the project now: to extend the benefits of immunotherapy to all cancer patients, instead of to just a few. And the best way to do that, it seems, is by doubling down, by pairing immunotherapy with other therapies so patients can benefit from both. Sound logical? Sure. Sound easy? Not on your life. It's called combination immunotherapy, and it's what this episode of Unraveled is about. Wed, 26 Apr 2023 09:00:00 -0000 With a Little Help From My Friends: Combination Immunotherapy full 2 5 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Looking for the holy grail in the realm of immunotherapy If there is such a thing as a holy grail in cancer research, a secret spell or golden ring that can ward off any and all forms of the disease, it probably lives somewhere in the realm of immunotherapy. A new category of immunotherapy drugs, called checkpoint inhibitors, take the brakes off the immune system and let the T cells do their job: attack cancer. They've been approved for more than 25 different types of cancer.  However, the average response rate for checkpoint inhibitors is 20 to 30%, which means that it's not working for 70% of the people who take it. So that's the project now: to extend the benefits of immunotherapy to all cancer patients, instead of to just a few. And the best way to do that, it seems, is by doubling down, by pairing immunotherapy with other therapies so patients can benefit from both. Sound logical? Sure. Sound easy? Not on your life. It's called combination immunotherapy, and it's what this episode of Unraveled is about. If there is such a thing as a holy grail in cancer research, a secret spell or golden ring that can ward off any and all forms of the disease, it probably lives somewhere in the realm of immunotherapy. A new category of immunotherapy drugs, called checkpoint inhibitors, take the brakes off the immune system and let the T cells do their job: attack cancer. They've been approved for more than 25 different types of cancer. 

However, the average response rate for checkpoint inhibitors is 20 to 30%, which means that it's not working for 70% of the people who take it. So that's the project now: to extend the benefits of immunotherapy to all cancer patients, instead of to just a few. And the best way to do that, it seems, is by doubling down, by pairing immunotherapy with other therapies so patients can benefit from both.

Sound logical? Sure. Sound easy? Not on your life. It's called combination immunotherapy, and it's what this episode of Unraveled is about.

]]> 1941 no Season 2 Episode 4: Making it Personal: Targeted Cancer Therapies https://www.dana-farber.org/health-library/articles/unraveled/ By the early 2000s, researchers at Dana-Farber and elsewhere knew that a certain protein appeared in many tumors taken from lung cancer patients. Based on that data, doctors started treating those patients with a drug that inhibited that protein. Unfortunately, for reasons that weren’t clear at the time, most of the patients didn’t respond — but there was a small percentage of patients, about one out of ten, who did. People called it a "Lazarus-like effect." So how can doctors know which of their patients is Lazarus? How can they know which ones will respond to a drug and which ones won’t? In other words, how can they interpret data so it makes sense? That's the subject of this episode of Unraveled about precision medicine and the EGFR discovery. It's an episode that begins with a riddle and ends with a roadmap.  Wed, 05 Apr 2023 09:00:00 -0000 Making it Personal: Targeted Cancer Therapies full 2 4 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute The EGFR discovery and the era of precision medicine By the early 2000s, researchers at Dana-Farber and elsewhere knew that a certain protein appeared in many tumors taken from lung cancer patients. Based on that data, doctors started treating those patients with a drug that inhibited that protein. Unfortunately, for reasons that weren’t clear at the time, most of the patients didn’t respond — but there was a small percentage of patients, about one out of ten, who did. People called it a "Lazarus-like effect." So how can doctors know which of their patients is Lazarus? How can they know which ones will respond to a drug and which ones won’t? In other words, how can they interpret data so it makes sense? That's the subject of this episode of Unraveled about precision medicine and the EGFR discovery. It's an episode that begins with a riddle and ends with a roadmap.  By the early 2000s, researchers at Dana-Farber and elsewhere knew that a certain protein appeared in many tumors taken from lung cancer patients. Based on that data, doctors started treating those patients with a drug that inhibited that protein. Unfortunately, for reasons that weren’t clear at the time, most of the patients didn’t respond — but there was a small percentage of patients, about one out of ten, who did. People called it a "Lazarus-like effect."

So how can doctors know which of their patients is Lazarus? How can they know which ones will respond to a drug and which ones won’t? In other words, how can they interpret data so it makes sense? That's the subject of this episode of Unraveled about precision medicine and the EGFR discovery. It's an episode that begins with a riddle and ends with a roadmap. 

]]> 1847 no Season 2 Episode 3: Stop the Division: CDK-4/6 Inhibitors and the Cell Cycle https://www.dana-farber.org/health-library/articles/unraveled/ Cancer is often a problem of cell division; cancer cells keep doubling and doubling, faster and faster. Eventually, they crowd out the healthy cells we need to survive. So researchers proposed a question: Why not stop that land grab? Why not find a way to jam the gears of the cell cycle to stop cancer cells from dividing? Today, we have drugs that do just that: They're called CDK-4/6 inhibitors. The story of those drugs, the momentum that brought them from bench to bedside, was written largely at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute — and keeps being written today. It's the story we're telling in episode three of Unraveled. Wed, 15 Mar 2023 09:00:00 -0000 Stop the Division: CDK-4/6 Inhibitors and the Cell Cycle full 2 3 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute How drugs called CDK-4/6 inhibitors can jam the gears of a cancer cell's cycle Cancer is often a problem of cell division; cancer cells keep doubling and doubling, faster and faster. Eventually, they crowd out the healthy cells we need to survive. So researchers proposed a question: Why not stop that land grab? Why not find a way to jam the gears of the cell cycle to stop cancer cells from dividing? Today, we have drugs that do just that: They're called CDK-4/6 inhibitors. The story of those drugs, the momentum that brought them from bench to bedside, was written largely at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute — and keeps being written today. It's the story we're telling in episode three of Unraveled. Cancer is often a problem of cell division; cancer cells keep doubling and doubling, faster and faster. Eventually, they crowd out the healthy cells we need to survive. So researchers proposed a question: Why not stop that land grab? Why not find a way to jam the gears of the cell cycle to stop cancer cells from dividing? Today, we have drugs that do just that: They're called CDK-4/6 inhibitors. The story of those drugs, the momentum that brought them from bench to bedside, was written largely at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute — and keeps being written today. It's the story we're telling in episode three of Unraveled.

]]> 1619 no Season 2 Episode 2: Thalidomide and its Second Act in Multiple Myeloma https://www.dana-farber.org/health-library/articles/unraveled/ Momentum isn't always one way. And it's not always constant. Sometimes it shoves you sideways, sometimes it stops you in your tracks. And sometimes only sometimes, it drives you to write one of the most astonishing second acts in all of medicine. That's the story we're telling today about thalidomide, its second act in multiple myeloma, and the promise of protein degradation. Wed, 22 Feb 2023 09:00:00 -0000 Thalidomide and its Second Act in Multiple Myeloma full 2 2 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute A deeper look at the promise of protein degradation in multiple myeloma and beyond Momentum isn't always one way. And it's not always constant. Sometimes it shoves you sideways, sometimes it stops you in your tracks. And sometimes only sometimes, it drives you to write one of the most astonishing second acts in all of medicine. That's the story we're telling today about thalidomide, its second act in multiple myeloma, and the promise of protein degradation. Momentum isn't always one way. And it's not always constant. Sometimes it shoves you sideways, sometimes it stops you in your tracks. And sometimes only sometimes, it drives you to write one of the most astonishing second acts in all of medicine. That's the story we're telling today about thalidomide, its second act in multiple myeloma, and the promise of protein degradation.

]]> 1723 no Season 2 Episode 1 BCL-2 Inhibitors: Driving Cells to Destruction https://dana-farber.org/unraveled The story begins decades ago with a man named Stanley Korsmeyer, who led the molecular oncology program at Dana-Farber from 1998 until his death in 2005. He discovered that B-cell cancers like CLL over-produced a protein called BCL-2, and interfered with apoptosis, or programmed cell death. But how that went from an interesting discovery to a game-changing cancer drug is a story of persistence and momentum, and it’s the first episode of season two of Unraveled Wed, 01 Feb 2023 00:00:00 -0000 BCL-2 Inhibitors: Driving Cells to Destruction full 2 1 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute How BCL-2 went from an interesting discovery to a game-changing cancer drug The story begins decades ago with a man named Stanley Korsmeyer, who led the molecular oncology program at Dana-Farber from 1998 until his death in 2005. He discovered that B-cell cancers like CLL over-produced a protein called BCL-2, and interfered with apoptosis, or programmed cell death. But how that went from an interesting discovery to a game-changing cancer drug is a story of persistence and momentum, and it’s the first episode of season two of Unraveled The story begins decades ago with a man named Stanley Korsmeyer, who led the molecular oncology program at Dana-Farber from 1998 until his death in 2005. He discovered that B-cell cancers like CLL over-produced a protein called BCL-2, and interfered with apoptosis, or programmed cell death. But how that went from an interesting discovery to a game-changing cancer drug is a story of persistence and momentum, and it’s the first episode of season two of Unraveled

]]> 1817 Season 2 Trailer https://dana-farber.org/unraveled In season 2 of Unraveled, we explore the theme of momentum. The momentum that takes therapies from test bench to bedside, and then back to test bench for fine tuning. The momentum provided by researchers, who defy headwinds and even gravity to keep science moving forward. And the momentum that doctors harness, with medicines and care that can transform once lethal cancers into treatable conditions. Fri, 27 Jan 2023 15:55:42 -0000 Unraveled Trailer 2 full 2 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Cancer and Momentum In season 2 of Unraveled, we explore the theme of momentum. The momentum that takes therapies from test bench to bedside, and then back to test bench for fine tuning. The momentum provided by researchers, who defy headwinds and even gravity to keep science moving forward. And the momentum that doctors harness, with medicines and care that can transform once lethal cancers into treatable conditions. In season 2 of Unraveled, we explore the theme of momentum. The momentum that takes therapies from test bench to bedside, and then back to test bench for fine tuning. The momentum provided by researchers, who defy headwinds and even gravity to keep science moving forward. And the momentum that doctors harness, with medicines and care that can transform once lethal cancers into treatable conditions.

]]> 131 no Episode 6: Dana-Farber in the Time of COVID https://www.dana-farber.org/unraveled A beauty… that in some cases becomes tragic. It’s not the way most people would describe a virus. In the simplest of terms, a virus is a snippet of genetic code. It can’t reproduce on its own. So, in order to replicate, it needs to infect and hijack a living cell. Scientists can’t even agree on whether viruses are alive or dead. What they do know is that every so often, one of them goes, well, viral. And when it does, it can bring everything to a skidding halt. Well, almost everything. One thing the COVID pandemic didn’t stop was cancer. And that meant that everyone at Dana-Farber had to find a way to keep on working. And they had to find a way to keep themselves and their patients safe. Mon, 04 Oct 2021 04:00:00 -0000 Dana-Farber in the Time of COVID full 1 6 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute One thing the COVID pandemic didn’t stop was cancer. And that meant that everyone at Dana-Farber had to find a way to keep on working. And they had to find a way to keep themselves and their patients safe. A beauty… that in some cases becomes tragic. It’s not the way most people would describe a virus. In the simplest of terms, a virus is a snippet of genetic code. It can’t reproduce on its own. So, in order to replicate, it needs to infect and hijack a living cell. Scientists can’t even agree on whether viruses are alive or dead. What they do know is that every so often, one of them goes, well, viral. And when it does, it can bring everything to a skidding halt. Well, almost everything. One thing the COVID pandemic didn’t stop was cancer. And that meant that everyone at Dana-Farber had to find a way to keep on working. And they had to find a way to keep themselves and their patients safe. A beauty… that in some cases becomes tragic. It’s not the way most people would describe a virus. In the simplest of terms, a virus is a snippet of genetic code. It can’t reproduce on its own. So, in order to replicate, it needs to infect and hijack a living cell.

Scientists can’t even agree on whether viruses are alive or dead. What they do know is that every so often, one of them goes, well, viral. And when it does, it can bring everything to a skidding halt.

Well, almost everything. One thing the COVID pandemic didn’t stop was cancer. And that meant that everyone at Dana-Farber had to find a way to keep on working. And they had to find a way to keep themselves and their patients safe.

]]> 1882 Episode 5: Turning Science Fiction into Fact https://www.dana-farber.org/unraveled It’s always fun to think about the future. Flying cars. Cities in the clouds. Colonies on Venus and Mars. Ok. So we didn’t end up living like the Jetsons. But a few of those visions did come true. And Judy Wilkins knows that first hand. Wilkins is a former patient at Dana-Farber. And she’s the poster child for a bold new therapy where science fiction becomes science fact. Mon, 20 Sep 2021 04:00:00 -0000 Turning Science Fiction into Fact full 1 5 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Judy Wilkins knows first hand that some scientific visions come true. Wilkins is a former cancer patient and poster child for a bold new therapy where science fiction becomes science fact. It’s always fun to think about the future. Flying cars. Cities in the clouds. Colonies on Venus and Mars. Ok. So we didn’t end up living like the Jetsons. But a few of those visions did come true. And Judy Wilkins knows that first hand. Wilkins is a former patient at Dana-Farber. And she’s the poster child for a bold new therapy where science fiction becomes science fact. It’s always fun to think about the future. Flying cars. Cities in the clouds. Colonies on Venus and Mars. Ok. So we didn’t end up living like the Jetsons. But a few of those visions did come true. And Judy Wilkins knows that first hand. Wilkins is a former patient at Dana-Farber. And she’s the poster child for a bold new therapy where science fiction becomes science fact.

]]> 1862 no Episode 4: The Blueprints of Your Cells https://www.dana-farber.org/unraveled There are approximately 20,000 genes in the human genome. 20,000 packets that house the blueprints for every human cell. And every human cell contains a complete copy of that genome. It’s an incredible feat of bio-engineering. But here’s the question. If every human cell contains every single human gene, how does the cell know what to do? What process determines whether it becomes a pancreas or a patella? And what happens if that process falters—if the right gene is selected but cast in the wrong role. Mon, 06 Sep 2021 04:00:00 -0000 The Blueprints of Your Cells full 1 4 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Every human cell contains a complete copy of that genome. It’s an incredible feat of bio-engineering. But if every human cell contains every single human gene, how does the cell know what to do There are approximately 20,000 genes in the human genome. 20,000 packets that house the blueprints for every human cell. And every human cell contains a complete copy of that genome. It’s an incredible feat of bio-engineering. But here’s the question. If every human cell contains every single human gene, how does the cell know what to do? What process determines whether it becomes a pancreas or a patella? And what happens if that process falters—if the right gene is selected but cast in the wrong role. There are approximately 20,000 genes in the human genome. 20,000 packets that house the blueprints for every human cell. And every human cell contains a complete copy of that genome. It’s an incredible feat of bio-engineering. But here’s the question. If every human cell contains every single human gene, how does the cell know what to do? What process determines whether it becomes a pancreas or a patella? And what happens if that process falters—if the right gene is selected but cast in the wrong role.

]]> 1868 no Episode 3: The Culture of Mentorship What do cancer researchers and 15th century Florentine masters have in common? Well for one, a culture of mentorship. Both come of age in a culture where knowledge is transmitted from master to pupil. In this episode, we take a closer look at that culture, and the crucial role mentorship plays at Dana-Farber, and with Nobel laureate, William Kaelin. Mon, 23 Aug 2021 04:00:00 -0000 The Culture of Mentorship full 1 3 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute What do cancer researchers and 15th century Florentine masters have in common? Well for one, a culture of mentorship. What do cancer researchers and 15th century Florentine masters have in common? Well for one, a culture of mentorship. Both come of age in a culture where knowledge is transmitted from master to pupil. In this episode, we take a closer look at that culture, and the crucial role mentorship plays at Dana-Farber, and with Nobel laureate, William Kaelin. What do cancer researchers and 15th century Florentine masters have in common? Well for one, a culture of mentorship. Both come of age in a culture where knowledge is transmitted from master to pupil. In this episode, we take a closer look at that culture, and the crucial role mentorship plays at Dana-Farber, and with Nobel laureate, William Kaelin.

]]> 1903 no Episode 2: Behind the Science of the 2019 Nobel Prize It’s hard to overstate just how important oxygen is to life on earth. Almost every living thing on the planet needs it to convert fuel into energy. We can’t survive without it. Not even for a handful of minutes. Fortunately, our bodies know this. And they’ve developed several (easier to say) rapid response systems to keep us going when oxygen runs low.  A few cancers have found a bug in the system, a way to sound a false alarm and make the body think it’s low on oxygen when it’s not. And then to hijack the body’s response to feed hungry tumors. It’s a complicated process, and a fascinating one. And it earned one Dana-Farber doctor the biggest prize of all.  Mon, 09 Aug 2021 04:00:00 -0000 Behind the Science of the 2019 Nobel Prize full 1 2 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute A few cancers have found a bug in our body's system, a way to make the body think it’s low on oxygen when it’s not. And then to hijack the body’s response to feed hungry tumors. It’s a complicated process, and a fascinating one. And it earned one Dana-Farber doctor the biggest prize of all. It’s hard to overstate just how important oxygen is to life on earth. Almost every living thing on the planet needs it to convert fuel into energy. We can’t survive without it. Not even for a handful of minutes. Fortunately, our bodies know this. And they’ve developed several (easier to say) rapid response systems to keep us going when oxygen runs low.  A few cancers have found a bug in the system, a way to sound a false alarm and make the body think it’s low on oxygen when it’s not. And then to hijack the body’s response to feed hungry tumors. It’s a complicated process, and a fascinating one. And it earned one Dana-Farber doctor the biggest prize of all.  It’s hard to overstate just how important oxygen is to life on earth. Almost every living thing on the planet needs it to convert fuel into energy. We can’t survive without it. Not even for a handful of minutes. Fortunately, our bodies know this. And they’ve developed several (easier to say) rapid response systems to keep us going when oxygen runs low. 

A few cancers have found a bug in the system, a way to sound a false alarm and make the body think it’s low on oxygen when it’s not. And then to hijack the body’s response to feed hungry tumors. It’s a complicated process, and a fascinating one. And it earned one Dana-Farber doctor the biggest prize of all. 

]]> 1819 no Episode 1: The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing The parable of the wolf in sheep’s clothing tale reminds us that things aren’t always as they seem, that bad guys can dress up as good guys to do their bad guy things. And there’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing story in cancer research, complete with a crafty predator, a clever disguise, and a visionary team of researchers who finally found a way to nab the wolf.  Mon, 09 Aug 2021 04:00:00 -0000 The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing full 1 1 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute There’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing story in cancer research, complete with a crafty predator, a clever disguise, and a visionary team of researchers who finally found a way to nab the wolf. The parable of the wolf in sheep’s clothing tale reminds us that things aren’t always as they seem, that bad guys can dress up as good guys to do their bad guy things. And there’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing story in cancer research, complete with a crafty predator, a clever disguise, and a visionary team of researchers who finally found a way to nab the wolf.  The parable of the wolf in sheep’s clothing tale reminds us that things aren’t always as they seem, that bad guys can dress up as good guys to do their bad guy things. And there’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing story in cancer research, complete with a crafty predator, a clever disguise, and a visionary team of researchers who finally found a way to nab the wolf. 

]]> 2061 no Unraveled Season One Trailer https://dana-farber.org/unraveled The complex science of cancer is unraveled in this six-episode series featuring the science behind the 2019 Nobel prize; the disguises cancer cells take on to evade the immune system; turning science fiction into fact with cell therapy; the links between COVID-19 and cancer research and more. Wed, 07 Jul 2021 18:47:00 -0000 Unraveled Trailer trailer 1 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Unraveled: A Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Podcast Season One Trailer The complex science of cancer is unraveled in this six-episode series featuring the science behind the 2019 Nobel prize; the disguises cancer cells take on to evade the immune system; turning science fiction into fact with cell therapy; the links between COVID-19 and cancer research and more. The complex science of cancer is unraveled in this six-episode series featuring the science behind the 2019 Nobel prize; the disguises cancer cells take on to evade the immune system; turning science fiction into fact with cell therapy; the links between COVID-19 and cancer research and more.

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