Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center Podcasts

This is Healthcare Quality Week. In this podcast, Dr Bill Nelson talks with Yanka Campbell and Dr Allen Chen about improving the quality of care by implementing standards that have positively impacted patient safety and reduced adverse events.

Dr Akila Viswanathan talks with Dr Amol Narang about the latest edition of Seminars in Radiation Oncology focused on the multidisciplinary treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Dr Akila Viswanathan speaks with Johns Hopkins Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences faculty in attendance at the 2025 American Society for Radiation Oncology Annual Meeting in San Francisco to review the conference and provide updates on how the information presented will impact patient care. Dr Sahaja Acharya discusses soft tissue sarcomas. Dr Daniel Song reviews a range of studies on prostate cancer. Dr Ana Kiess describes the current state of radiopharmacueticals. Dr Lawrence Kleinberg updates the progress being made in the treatment of central nervous system malignancies.

Dr Bill Nelson talks to Dr Catherine Handy Marshall about the broader range or treatments available for advanced prostate cancer at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center that are leading to better outcomes, fewer side-effects and longer survival.

Dr Bill Nelson and Dr Sam Denmeade discuss the growing array of treatments for patients with prostate cancer available at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

Dr Bill Nelson talks to Dr John Gross, a surgical pathologist, about the diagnosis of sarcomas, tumors most commonly found in bones and soft tissue. Dr Gross recently published a paper in Modern Pathology on his team's discovery of a new type of soft tissue tumor. Read more about that here.

Dr Bill Nelson and Dr Michael Pishvaian discuss the targeting of KRAS mutations in pancreatic cancer to develop new treatment options for a disease that has been historically difficult to care for.

Dr Bill Nelson and Dr Cynthia Sears discuss the role of the microbiome on our overall health, how it impacts cancer risk and the crucial role of federal research funding in understanding these organisms.

Dr Bill Nelson and Dr Nilo Azad discuss the decades-long research effort to develop treatments targeting KRAS mutations and the importance of federal funding in bringing those treatments to patients.

Dr Bill Nelson and Dr Michael Carducci discuss using Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) targeted therapies to detect and treat prostate cancer.

Dr Akila Viswanathan speaks with Dr Sophia Kamran from Harvard Medical School and Dr Constantinos Zamboglou from the German Oncology Center about the latest edition of Seminars in Radiation Oncology focusing on new treatments for advanced prostate cancer.

Dr Bill Nelson talks to Dr Elizabeth Platz about her research studying the causes of cancer over time in large groups and using data to assess future risk.

Dr Bill Nelson and Dr Bert Vogelstein discuss the development of tools for the early detection of cancers, which will lead to better treatments with fewer long-term consequences for patients.

Dr Bill Nelson speaks with Dr Kala Visvanathan about her research assessing breast cancer risk, why many people are developing cancers earlier in life, and the tools she is developing to find cancer sooner, when it can be treated more effectively.

Dr Bill Nelson and Dr Chi Dang discuss the impact of circadian rhythms on our metabolism and how researchers are working to utilize this knowledge to improve cancer treatment.

Dr Bill Nelson talks to Dr Andrew Ewald, a cell biologist, about his research into how cancer cells migrate throughout the body and the importance of federal funding to continue building on decades of successful research efforts.

Dr Bill Nelson speaks with Dr Elizabeth Jaffee about her research in cancer vaccines, immunotherapy, and the importance of federal funding in continuing to achieve breakthroughs in cancer treatment.

Dr Bill Nelson talks with Dr Denis Wirtz about his research using CODA, an artificial intelligence platform, to identify and analyze pre-cancerous lesions previously undetected in the pancreas and along the fallopian tubes.

Dr Bill Nelson talks with Dr Ashani Weeraratna about her work in melanoma research, the progress that has been made in treating patients with melanoma, and the importance of federal research funding in finding advancements in treatment for this disease.

Dr Bill Nelson talks to Dr Drew Pardoll about the field of cancer immunology. They explain how cancer cells use 'checkpoints' to turn off immune response and how research efforts at Johns Hopkins to block these checkpoints and re-engage the immune system continue to benefit patients.