Show Notes
Nuclear medicine therapy is sometimes the best option for people who no longer respond to other treatments. It is often helpful for patients with cancers that are historically hard to treat, like prostate cancer or lymphoma. Find out how nuclear medicine, when combined with other therapies, will control symptoms and shrink and stabilize tumors, sometimes for years. Featured experts are Dr. Geoffrey Johnson, Nuclear Medicine Specialist/Radiologist at Mayo Clinic; and Dr. George Sgouros, Director of the Radiological Physics Division and Professor of Radiology and Radiological Science at Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering.
More from Tomorrow's Cure
How could Mayo Clinic’s Global AI Platform transform personalized care?
What if transplant patients could one day live free from lifelong anti-rejection drugs?
What happens when multiple sclerosis symptoms mask a different condition?
What if repairing damaged cartilage could be done in a single procedure? Using your own cells and the healing signals they need to recover?
What if the milk you are drinking could help fight cancer? In this episode of Tomorrow's Cure, we explore cholangiocarcinoma and a surprising new approach to targeting it using milk‑derived nanoparticles and precision aptamer‑based delivery. Host Lindsey Seavert is joined by surgical oncologist Dr. Rory Smoot and long‑term survivor and advocate Melinda Bachini to unpack why this cancer is so challenging, what symptoms and treatment paths patients typically face, and how emerging gene‑delivery platforms and AI‑driven discovery are opening new possibilities when standard therapies fall short. Through Melinda’s 16‑year survivorship story and Dr. Smoot’s lab work that literally starts with skim milk from the Mayo Clinic cafeteria, listeners hear how “chemical antibodies” called aptamers can act as molecular keys to deliver therapy directly to cholangiocarcinoma cells, and how computational tools are accelerating the search for new targets. Together, they discuss the emotional and practical realities of living at the edge of what medicine can do today, the expanding landscape of clinical trials, and why innovation in this rare cancer may ripple out to colon, lung and other hard‑to‑treat tumors.