Cancer care still mostly revolves around one goal: chasing cure. But what if that approach is costing us thousands of lives and untold suffering?
In this episode of Hard Medicine, Dr. Yurkiewicz speaks with Dr. Azra Raza, oncologist and author of The First Cell, about why cancer medicine still prioritizes treatment over prevention — and the paradigm shift needed to change that. They discuss what stands in the way: massive disparities in research funding, a health care system that flattens prevention into one-size-fits-all, and a medical culture favoring incremental advances over radical change. They also explore solutions, from targeting cancer precursors in the bloodstream to tailored screening for people at high risk.
This is a conversation about cancer that is both deeply critical and optimistic.
0:06 Opening Monologue: From Treatment to Prevention — Cancer Needs a Paradigm Shift
2:49 Why Focus on Prevention?
8:33 Cancer Is Too Complex to Cure
14:45 95% of Cancer Drug Research Fails
18:47 What’s Wrong With Mouse Models?
27:40 Building Biobanks From Human Samples
30:18 The “Stentinel”
37:21 The Limits of One-Size-Fits-All Screening
44:43 Rapid Fire Q&A: Blood Tests for Early Detection, Full-Body MRIs, and Rising Cancers in Young Adults
50:31 Is Cancer Preventable?
