Discussion GuideHost your own discussion


Audience members are encouraged to host their own discussion with family and friends. Here are discussion questions to get you started.


Discussion #1 - Tuesday, October 6, 11:15 a.m. 
The lecture that preceded this discussion was titled, “ Engineering the Immune System as a New Tool for Cancer Therapy” by Carl June, MD.

Discussion Questions:

  • What makes you excited or concerned about this new frontier of treatment?
  • What have you learned about the ways in which new forms of treatment represent an improvement over the rather “blunt instruments” of chemo, radiation, and surgery?
  • Did anything surprise you about how we can harness our own immune system to treat cancer?
  • Has the present pandemic affected your thinking about your immune system?
  • What have been your experiences with chemo, radiation, and surgery, the main tools we’ve had in the past for treating or curing cancer? 

Virtual Discussion #2 - Tuesday, October 6, 1:30 p.m. 
The lecture that proceeds this discussion is titled, “Transformational Research in Cancer Health Disparities” by Chanita Hughes-Halbert. 

Discussion Questions: 

  • What aspects of Dr. Hughes-Halbert’s talk stood out for you?
  • What points did you find most interesting or challenging?
  • How do you think we should go about providing equal access to cancer treatments?
  • Do you think early cancer screening would help mitigate cancer disparities in patients?
  • What are your biggest concerns about care for people with cancer, in the future?
  • What makes you most hopeful about the new ways cancer is being treated? What do you see as the biggest opportunities?

Virtual Discussion #3 - Wednesday, October 7, 12 p.m. 
The lectures that proceed this discussion are titled, “Creating Global Access to Biologic Therapeutics for Treating Cancer and Other Serious Diseases” by Jim Thomas, PhD; “Exercise Oncology: Balancing Evidence with the Need to Implement” by Kathryn Schmitz, PhD; “A Dialogue about “The Care of the Patient”” by Suzanne Chambers, PhD. 

Discussion Questions: 

  • What did you learn about the costs and development of cancer treatments from the lecture by Jim Thomas?
  • Did the lecture by Jim Thomas change your thinking related to cancer research or drug companies?
  • Based on the talk by Dr. Schmitz, what surprises or excites you about the research about the role of exercise as “cancer medicine?”
  • Do you find yourself skeptical about the idea of “exercise as medicine?”
  • Why do you think there has been so much resistance to the idea that exercise and diet can be important *medical* treatments for cancer? (From the medical profession, and from persons with cancer alike)?
  • When you hear the phrase “treat the person, not the disease,” what does it make you think about?
  • Based on the talk by Dr. Chambers, why do you think cancer patients and their families should be offered therapy as a part of their treatment plan?
  • Why do you feel that mental health is essential for a successful cancer outcome?