The Voices of ‘Cancering’

Jennifer Young Pierce. Photo courtesy of USA Health

PEOPLE FACING A CANCER DIAGNOSIS can find themselves lost in a sea of sobering statistics, new treatments and technologies, and frightening stories of loss. But those who have gone through treatment often emerge with a new perspective and a sense of resilience. Inspired by people who have undergone cancer treatment, a team at the USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute in Mobile, Alabama, conceived of The Cancering Show podcast as a way to provide practical information about cancer and spread hope.

Hosted by Jennifer Young Pierce, a gynecological oncologist at Mitchell Cancer Institute, The Cancering Show is a biweekly podcast that shares stories from survivors, patients, caregivers and researchers. Pierce and her production team began the show, sponsored by Mitchell Cancer Institute, in 2019 to connect with people whose lives have been touched by cancer. In more than 50 available episodes, Pierce and her guests shed light on subjects ranging from pain and palliative care to diet and survivorship. “The thread that goes through all of it, whether we’re talking about science or we’re talking about a patient’s story, is one of hope,” Pierce says.

Many of the stories Pierce shares on the show involve people from southern Alabama, but the lessons are universal. “It is for anyone who is ‘cancering,’ and we use that term broadly,” she says.

Pierce spoke with Cancer Today about developing The Cancering Show and the importance of maintaining optimism throughout the cancer journey.

CT: Why did your production team decide to start the podcast?

PIERCE: A lot of it was wanting to connect with our Mitchell Cancer Institute community. We also saw a gap in knowledge about what cancer really is. When people search online, they often end up in places with very negative messaging and are provided numbers without any sort of hope. At the same time, they’re trying to filter what’s real and what’s not ready for prime time. So, we wanted to make a podcast that demystified cancer to supplement the information that patients get when they meet with their oncologist.

CT: What do you want listeners to gain from the show?

PIERCE: Hope. People use the word “devastating” regarding a cancer diagnosis all the time. And you never get to the part where you’re like, “No, there’s good news here: This is curable, or there are new medications that help people live for a long time.” A lot of that information, a lot of that hope gets lost in the fear and anxiety of an initial diagnosis. Then, by the time patients really want to start asking those questions—What are the things that work? Am I going to feel OK? Am I going to get back to normal?—they have already left the doctor’s office. So, we want to provide a forum for stories of hope and survivorship and for information, which empowers people.

CT: What topics have resonated most with your listeners?

PIERCE: What surprises me is some of the most listened to, most impactful episodes are stories of a loved one speaking of someone who has passed away. It helps people to know that, even in those darkest hours, there is hope—hope that the surviving partner heals, that there’s healing in community. And it helps to know that their oncology team is able to care for them through all of those scenarios: through the situations that end in survivorship, through the ones that end in survivorship but with side effects, and for those that end in palliative care and a passing.

CT: How do you decide what to cover on the podcast?

PIERCE: Usually, I get together with our two producers, and we talk about what’s current in the news, what we’ve been getting questions about, what seems to be coming up at the office and what came up on previous episodes. I try to make sure we balance cancer types and types of voices. We want to make sure we are reaching all areas of specialty but also all areas of diversity in terms of patient voices and caregiving voices.

CT: Do you have a favorite episode?

PIERCE: My favorite episode right now featured Helen Bender Bailey. Helen is an incredible human being who is full of light. Her story is just so shocking because in her absolute prime, when she was the healthiest of her whole life, she was diagnosed with stage IV melanoma. And now she’s in complete remission with negative scans and living her best life. It’s exactly the kind of thing we want patients to hear—those stories of hope and life and light. She also has some practical advice for people who are facing a tough diagnosis.

CT: What have you learned by making the podcast?

PIERCE: It’s so fun for me to sit down with a scientist whose discoveries are still in the lab and hear how they expect it to make change.

Another thing I have learned over and over is how powerful our survivors are, in terms of their voice and their impact and their energy for change. We’ve spoken to lots of survivors who have turned their cancer diagnosis into their raison d’etre, their reason to be, and have turned it into their passion and then ultimately their life’s work. It can just be something you go through, you come out the other side and you never want to think about it again—and that’s fine too. But for those patients who are called to it, they make much more powerful advocates than even the loudest political voice or the strongest oncologist.

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