About This Series

NHPRCancerStory, a television series of four one-hour programs, is designed to simplify and put the complexities of cancer into terms the average person can understand and use. In this comprehensive 2004 production, viewers get a chance to learn how cancer was first identified and monitored, watch new treatments being developed, and get a close-up view of the excitement of 21st century research. Cancer cells are tracked from their creation to developing tumors and responding to various treatments. Terms like oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes are explained using the metaphor of a car with brakes and a gas tank. And the country's leading cancer researchers make molecular and cellular biology understandable by using specific examples of how cancer is being better diagnosed and treated with research in this area.

What Is Cancer?

How does cancer begin and grow? Come along on an amazing journey to see how DNA, chromosomes, oncogenes and tumor growth factors play a role in cancer. Experience the types of treatment that were created and why, and what the future holds.

Airs:
Wed, 1/05/2005 at 9:00 PM
Tue, 1/11/2005 at 11:30 PM
Sun, 1/30/2005 at 2:00 PM

Voices

Experience the reality of life with cancer-told by cancer patients themselves. A 28-year old woman is successfully treated for breast cancer, but then must deal with her physician's advice that she not bear children. A young boy with leukemia and his family recount his three-year journey of treatment. A 54-year-old man with both Hodgkin's lymphoma and lung cancer goes through radiation and chemotherapy, supported by the love and humor of his wife.

Airs:
Wed, 1/12/2005 at 9:00 PM
Sun, 1/30/2005 at 3:00 PM

New Directions

Follow promising new treatments at various stages of development. See how therapies are developed and tested through clinical trials. The program begins with Gleevec, a drug that was "fast-tracked" through the Food and Drug Administration's approval process when it showed remarkable success in treating leukemia. The program also follows Dartmouth scientists developing a cancer vaccine to stimulate the body's immune system to attack colon cancer.

Airs:
Wed, 1/19/2005 at 9:00 PM
Tue, 1/25/2005 at 11:30 PM
Sun, 1/30/2005 at 4:00 PM

Prevention and Screening

How is cancer detected and "predicted," and what decisions do people need to make with that information? A 54-year-old woman who carries a rare breast cancer gene tells about her experience with cancer and the choices she made in the hope of preventing its recurrence. Two men talk about their very different responses to a positive PSA test for prostate cancer. The effects of environment on cancer, and the changes each of us can make to reduce our risk, are also discussed.

Airs:
Wed, 1/26/2005 at 9:00 PM
Sun, 1/30/2005 at 5:00 PM