Category - Cancer Education

In honor of Black History Month, I want to educate African Americans on the inequities that exist in health care treatment with the hope of inspiring change. Patients need to take a proactive approach to their health care and demand equality.  

When thinking about lung cancer and its risk factors, it’s natural to immediately think about smoking. However, there are other forms of lung cancer and, with them, other risk factors. Mesothelioma is a rare, but serious, lung cancer heavily linked with exposure to asbestos. Nationally, between 2,000-3,000 Americans are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year. At Roswell Park, we see a slightly elevated number of mesothelioma patients allegedly due to the high number of industrial and factory jobs in Western New York.

Steven Hochwald, MD, FACS, Vice Chair and Chief of Gastrointestinal Surgery, appeared on Roswellness Radio last week along with survivor John Kwarciany, to discuss gastric and esophageal cancers. Dr. Hochwald explains each disease in detail, including symptoms, diagnostic procedures and risk factors. In addition, John shares the story of how and when he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. 

Boris Kuvshinoff, II, MD, MBA, and Renuka Iyer, MD, Associate Professors of Oncology and Co-Directors, Liver and Pancreas Tumor Center joined Roswellness Radio to discuss pancreatic cancer. In this excerpt from last Sunday's show, Drs. Kuvshinoff and Iyer give a brief overview of this rare but aggressive disease, and provide information on risk factors, symptoms, and diagnostic studies.