Living Longer with Cancer: Rethinking Survivorship

What comes after a cancer diagnosis and treatment? In this episode of Science Will Win, host Dr. Raven Baxter explores one of the most important, and often overlooked, chapters for cancer patients: survivorship. As five-year survival rates climb to 70%, more people than ever are living with and beyond cancer. But longer survival brings its own complex challenges, and our care systems are still catching up. You'll hear from experts and advocates working at the intersection of medicine, policy, and community. We’ll discuss what it really takes to support people through this transition — when the clinical benchmarks have passed and it’s time to go back to “normal life”. From patient care plans and workplace disclosure to mental health, this episode makes one thing clear: survivorship demands dignity, support, and a whole new kind of care. Featured guests: – Tina Deignan, Commercial President, Pfizer Oncology – Shelley Fuld Nasso, CEO, Cancer Nation – Rebecca Nellis, Executive Director, Cancer and Careers – Bob Riter, Breast Cancer Patient & Advocate Dive into the episode here: 00:00 – The ongoing battle with cancer 03:43 – Rethinking survivorship 05:32 – The five-year survival myth 07:00 – The history of the term "survivor" 09:36 – Bob’s journey with breast cancer 11:38 – Lost in transition and survivorship care plans 14:25 – The intersection of cancer and work 18:49 – Rethinking how work gets done 20:00 – Disclosure and improving company culture 20:59 – The swivel technique 23:19 – Controlling your narrative 25:11 – Standardizing long-term survivorship care through policy 27:08 – Lack of access to care leads to disparities in survival rates 29:48 – Bob's second journey with cancer  32:21 – Takeaways and peek into our final episode Check out our YouTube channel (@Pfizer) to watch the full interview with Raven & Bob Riter on his cancer journey. Season 6 of Science Will Win is created by Pfizer and hosted by Dr. Raven Baxter. It’s produced by Acast Creative Studios. Hosts in this podcast series were compensated for their time. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.