The Numbers

In this episode, we explore how the metaphor of "fighting" cancer stands in cancer research. Where are we in this war? To answer this question, the Metastasis team turned to the history of cancer in a 1997 paper titled "Cancer Undefeated" by statisticians Dr. John Bailar and Dr. Heather Gornik. It turns out that if you take survival rates as a measure for progress against cancer, the results don't show success. Special guests include Dr. Barbara Bailar and guest producer Dr. Melissa Bailar. Metastasis is a part of the Medicine Race Democracy Lab. We are sponsored by the Bridge Systemic Racism and Racial Inequity Seed Grant and a product of The Center for Black Brown Queer Studies. Our producers include Alicia Leong, Aysel Rizvi, Bilal Rehman, Eddie Jackson, Emma Cooke, Jason Lee, Julianne Bi, Katherine Wu, Mandy Quan Taylor Phillips, Tian-Tian He, and Yesmar Oyarzun. Danyal Rizvi is our executive producer and Cher Vincent, our Senior Advisor. Our music is by MOIZ. This project is directed by Lan Li. For more of our episodes, check us out at metastasispodcast.com and learn more about the lab mrdlab.org