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I'm Dr.

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Rob Winn and you're listening
to Real Cancer Talk

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from VCU Massey
Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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We are
always celebrating our rich history.

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365 on Community Conversations,
Black Health Wins.

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And my very special guest
joining me on the show.

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He is the director of the VCU Massey
Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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Always in a win win situation.

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Doctor Robert Winn, how are you?

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Always good when I'm with you, Sis.

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Wow. We're going to talk briefly about the
disparities because we always give hope.

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Black History Month and beyond.

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So we're going to talk a little bit.

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We're going to touch
on some of the disparities.

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But more over we're going to talk about
the strides that we're making.

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Disparities overview.

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When it comes to the American Association
for Cancer Research Disparities,

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the progress report. Let’s...

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Let's talk about it. Progress.

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Social drivers of health.

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Major contributors.

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Redlining
has been an issue from 2015 to 2019,

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22% higher mortality
rate for all cancer neighborhoods

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subjected to redlining, and differences
in ancestry related biological factors.

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Now we're talking about some of the
disparity causes in our community.

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Now, with everything you're doing
as a researcher and a scientist

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over at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer
Center, we have a long way to go.

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But we're not where we were yesterday.

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So let's talk about some of the strides
that we're making now in the midst

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of the disparities
when it comes to black women and men.

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Yeah. So, long and short.

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Look, the reality is that that old song,

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I, you know, I where I want to be,
but I'm better off than I used to be.

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You know that old song?

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So I think that that's where we at.

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So is the fact.

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1 in 2
men, will get cancer in our lifetime.

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1 in 3 women will get cancer

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of one form or another in their lifetime.

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The issue has been in 19.

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If you look back to the 1990s,
you would see that if you compared black

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deaths versus white deaths in cancer,
the difference was 33%.

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That means that
if you had three people in the room,

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there'd be one white person
that would get essentially cancer.

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And, and essentially, you know,
they'd be the majority of that room

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would be African-Americans. Right?

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So 33% difference
means that that was significant, right?

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That for every one
there were three African-Americans. Right.

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But check this out.

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In 2025 and

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then 2024 when the report came out,

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that had dropped down
to a difference of only 11%.

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So when people say
that there's a bunch of trickeration

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and we ain't doing none and all
like all the,

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all the companies in the hospitals
are doing trying to make money,

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they sometimes can live in a world
of the bubble that they want to create.

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But there is some truth
and the facts are that from the 1990s,

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whether that 33% difference in cancer
death rates between black versus

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white people and in 2025,
we could actually point to the report

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that actually says
that that's reduced down to 11% is real.

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Now the question is, it ain't because
people rubbing tea oil on themselves.

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And it ain’t because you know it,
everybody’s eating kale.
Tea oil?

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It's okay. You know,
the kale is good for everything.

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You know, it
may just be that we been eating kale.

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It's because honestly,
there has been a movement of science

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that has evolved over time

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that allows us to treat breast cancer
better.

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Yeah. So it's not just medicine.

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It's also behaviors, you know,
and being more attentive to that.

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It's about getting better sleep,
not getting stressed.

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But y'all need to quit playing.

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It ain't about,

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you know, rubbing some Vicks on you,
some tea oil or some prayer oil.

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And you just say that that's the end.

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Then the reason why we getting healthier

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is because we actually have the,
the science

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that's actually creating molecules
that have become miracle medicines.

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The problem is we still got some in the
African-American community particularly.

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The issue is
how do we get more access to those miracle

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drugs for our folk so that they actually
live healthier lives?

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That's what's up.

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And when we thinking about.

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To say that the eating and stuff...you
know, look, all that alcohol,

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I told y'all back in the day,
I want to hear about all that alcohol

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and all that crazy eating we be doing
sometimes

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actually also contributes to obesity,
which contributes to cancer.

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We now know
that alcohol contributes to cancer.

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So I'm not saying that lifestyle issues
aren't important.

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It's not an either or.

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It's an ‘and’ conversation.

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Wow. And it's very important.

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I know we laughed about it.

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We've been doing this

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for a number of years,
but yesterday's food is not today's food.

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You know

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grandma's your grandma's food
and meat was soaked overnight.

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And so you were cooking from the table.

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Come on, come on. Back in the day.

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Come on. Let's be real with it.

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You know the you know, the reality is we
look at that guide

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and we talk about the African-American
diet, about how bad it was.

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But let's get real.

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Most people didn't
have the money to eat like that every day.

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So the celebratory foods that we have
with the mac and cheese

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and the fried, you know, chicken in there
and all the rest of that, you know,

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the yams and stuff. Come
on, we need a good plan.

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Most of that was at special
times of the year.

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Ain't nobody like that every day.

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They do now.

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So we have less vege...we have vegetables,

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more access to greens
and all the rest of this other stuff.

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And in fact, what is happened
is that our diet as a culture

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and as a, as a group of folks has changed
because we've gone

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from actually having some greens
to just going to Popeye's,

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you know what I'm saying? Yeah. And so...

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We love Popeye's.

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We love those restaurants though.

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But just do it in moderation.

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Yeah that’s all I'm saying?

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Look, I hit a Popeye’s every now
and again. I ain't worried about that.

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You know what I'm saying?

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But the reality is that we actually have
to be, particularly now, moving ahead,

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I think even more conscious
about getting access to fruits

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when you can, vegetables when you can,

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and just, you know, cut back on the meats,
particularly the red meats.

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I mean,

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we need to just think about, you know,
making sure that we eat a balanced diet.

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I ain't saying that you can't eat. No.

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You know, every once and a while,
you to rip into something, you know,

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ice cream or you just don't get something,
and that's okay.

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But it's reality
is that we can't make that a steady diet.

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And, and I think that that's the struggle
of not only African-Americans.

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That's been the struggle of many Americans
about how to eat right.

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And I think that is so important

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when we think about VCU Massey
Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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It's like holistic from the top of your
head to the soles of your feet.

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And we've been on the show
talking about cancer disparities,

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but more over
we want to talk about some of the strides.

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And we're in the midst
of Black History Month as we celebrate 365

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and I'll talk a little bit of more,
just there's three

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more bullet points
about cancer disparities in black women.

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And then in black men.

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And then Doctor Winn, you talking about.

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Yep, that was the number.

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But look at what we're doing now.

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Like cancer disparities, black women,
higher incidence for all major

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types of cancer except breast, lung
and all cancers combined

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twice as likely to be diagnosed
with stomach, stomach cancer

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and 40% more likely to die of breast
cancer versus white women.

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Now, on the male side of things,
disparities

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have the highest overall cancer incidence.

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More likely to get prostate cancer,
more likely to die from it, 20% higher

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incidence of colorectal cancer
than most groups, 40% more likely to die,

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and higher incidences of mortality
rates of lung cancer.

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Now, when we're thinking
about the prostate cancer

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or the colorectal cancer in men,
these are all cancers below the belt.

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So don't you think some of
the contributing factors to this not early

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detection of men, not going to
the hospital to get those type of testing?

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Doctor Winn.

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The the end of the conversation, we got
four big cancers that are all preventable.

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If you see your doctor and
you get the appropriate screening right?

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Colorectal, there's a test for that.

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Prostate, we know there's a test for that
and is even getting better.

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Breast, we know there's a test for that.

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Lung, we've got a screening test for that.

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So the reality is the
the 4 or 5 preventable cancers,

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if you put cervical cancers in there
can also be cancers

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that can in some ways either
be prevented or detected early.

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If you actually understand how
to use the system and see your doctors.

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Right. So it is not a
this is not a mystery.

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This is not a mystery
of how things get done.

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We actually have a game plan
that and rules

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from the American Cancer Society
that you can go on the website and put ACS

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cancer screening guidelines
and understand what you ought to be doing.

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So this is not a mystery.

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The information is out there.

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We just have to actually,
you know, group up on it, own it,

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and actually, you know,
make sure that we do what it says.

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And the good thing about it
too, Doctor Winn,

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to search for this information is right
there at your fingertips.

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We go online for everything socially
because we always have

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our cell phones with us so we can look up
or even as we are talking,

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having this Community Conversation
on our Radio One stations,

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you can look it up,
you can go to MasseyCancer.org,

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and you can also look up the AACR
Disparities progress report for 2024.

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Notice we said progress report.

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I think that is so interesting
because a lot of times, Doctor

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Winn, when folks get the information
when it comes to health, like they say,

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other folks may catch a cold,
we catch the flu.

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But in this case, with the community
rolling with us,

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we can make more strides
and have more progress

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when it comes to cancer
in the black community as well.

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We're going to take a break
and come on back.

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We're going to talk about from
that Tuskegee

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experiment to clinical trials
today, saving lives.

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This is Community Conversations.

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For folks who are just joining me,
you know what it is.

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Community Conversations
and the Black Health Wins podcast.

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It’s Doctor Robert Winn and me,
Miss Community Clovia.

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Now we've been talking about black history
as we celebrate our black history. 365.

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Now we're talking about the progress,
and we are making strides

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when it comes to cancer disparities
in the black and brown communities.

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So now we're back on the show.

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We talked about some of the cancer
disparities in black women and men.

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But now we're going to go, Doctor
Winn from that Tuskegee experiment

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to clinical trials today

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as we're moving from disparity
to determination.

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Let's talk about it.

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Yeah.

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You know, I mean, people don't I mean,
even if you don't know Tuskegee,

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because most people these days
don't even know what Tuskegee

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is, I think that that's a
you know, that's a generational thing.

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But young folks know
as a result of Tuskegee,

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not to trust the system
and certainly not to trust health systems.

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So the DNA or the shock from the Tuskegee,
which were many of,

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you know, it's called it's
it's really called the United States,

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preventive,
you know, Public Health Study of 1932,

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where there was an ideal of syphilis

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and that whether they had seeing that, 
and this is the true story,

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that in apes and in monkeys,
they did not get syphilis.

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And so they then
because we were under eugenic systems,

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which was a science at the time,
not a very good one,

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thought that since African-Americans,
blacks at the time were probably closer

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to the, apes,

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if you will, or monkeys
that they would expose

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African American men
to syphilis as a control group for whites.

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And what they wound up doing
is that as a result of that study,

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they were, unbeknownst to the black men
in many cases,

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you know, giving them syphilis.

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Now, as horrible as it is, you would
then think that they would

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then go to their wives
who were unsuspecting,

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and being exposed to syphilis
and the kids. Right?

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So they got it from the 1932 to 1970
something.

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This was going on.

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So people get stuck in sometimes,
like if you in a situation

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and you can't move from it,

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then you are doomed to repeat it
because you can't progress.

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Let's embrace it. Let's say it happenned.

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It ain't going to be erased.
That's history.

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But since then, what has happened
as a result of that?

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The U.S.

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Public Health Study of 1932

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since that time, as a result of that,

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there are so many more protections today
than ever before.

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As a result of that,
the Bell Report came out,

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which was the first one to say,
you know what, you need to consent people.

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And by the way,
you need to let them decide

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whether they want to participate or not.

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As a result of that,

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the community has been brought on to what
I call institutional review board.

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So there can't even be a study done

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not one without the community
voice and health

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professionals all working together,
says the this study makes sense.

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And is it a harm to people?

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So I understand the pain, but, you know,

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as African-Americans, we should understand
the pain of 1619, too.

00;13;20;24 - 00;13;21;20
There was slavery.

00;13;21;20 - 00;13;24;08
It was bad. Yeah. Understood.

00;13;24;08 - 00;13;29;25
So quit going back to the well
is to inform us of how to move forward.

00;13;29;29 - 00;13;34;24
So, I actually want to say Black History
Month, so not actually acknowledging

00;13;34;24 - 00;13;38;20
that since that time we've had giants
like Vivian Pinn, Vivian

00;13;38;20 - 00;13;42;22
Pinn, who's over at University of VA,
I mean, an amazing doc in her own right.

00;13;42;22 - 00;13;45;22
And just,
I mean, just amazing impact on the field.

00;13;46;06 - 00;13;50;07
But by taking on the Tuskegee
and not recognizing that LaSalle Leffall,

00;13;50;29 - 00;13;55;01
One of the most, most amazing
African-Americans from our university

00;13;55;01 - 00;13;59;12
and first African-American to be
the head of the American Cancer Society.

00;13;59;27 - 00;14;02;24
You know,
these are short not to recognize Harold P.

00;14;02;24 - 00;14;05;29
Freeman, who said is a brilliant guy
over at Harlem Hospital

00;14;06;06 - 00;14;09;07
back in his day,
which is why we have navigation today.

00;14;09;10 - 00;14;12;14
He said, listen,
I can't possibly cut out all the cancers

00;14;12;14 - 00;14;13;24
and these African-American women,

00;14;13;24 - 00;14;18;04
but maybe what I need to do is to come up
with a way to navigate them, to help.

00;14;18;11 - 00;14;22;05
All those are black giants
whose shoulders we stand on.

00;14;22;05 - 00;14;23;05
Folks like Otis Brawley, etc. So, I

00;14;24;11 - 00;14;25;26
understand

00;14;25;26 - 00;14;28;25
people
when they are suspect and suspicious.

00;14;29;27 - 00;14;33;28
But to remain suspect and suspicious
of something that was left in the past.

00;14;34;08 - 00;14;37;06
And understanding that you going to dance
with that ghost as opposed to

00;14;37;06 - 00;14;40;17
a dance with
the future is still home in our community.

00;14;40;17 - 00;14;42;18
So where are we now? Clinical trials.

00;14;42;18 - 00;14;46;11
We now know that at the end of the day,
when you have reached

00;14;46;11 - 00;14;50;16
the end of the standard of care,
the standard of care is offer of trials.

00;14;50;20 - 00;14;51;19
How do I know this?

00;14;51;19 - 00;14;54;21
I know this because there are right now
women

00;14;54;26 - 00;14;58;16
that were given up for death 20,
30 years ago.

00;14;59;02 - 00;15;01;06
Give it up for dead.

00;15;01;06 - 00;15;04;16
But when we came up with a new approach of

00;15;04;17 - 00;15;07;28
what's called molecular targeted therapy,
that means they find a gene.

00;15;07;28 - 00;15;11;21
And you, you, there's a signature and
they create a personalized drug for you.

00;15;12;03 - 00;15;15;09
Many of those women now are running
half marathons and living full lives.

00;15;15;12 - 00;15;19;03
So quit messing with me
that the 33% difference between

00;15;19;03 - 00;15;23;14
African-Americans and that, you know,
death between black, white and 11 today

00;15;23;17 - 00;15;27;12
just happened because the air quality
got better, quit playing.

00;15;27;12 - 00;15;31;09
It’s because we had better medicines
and better access of our people

00;15;31;09 - 00;15;32;08
to these clinical trials.

00;15;32;08 - 00;15;33;18
So I got it.

00;15;33;18 - 00;15;36;15
So sometimes
it feels good to hang on to the past.

00;15;36;15 - 00;15;39;09
But the reality is
we have to acknowledge the past.

00;15;39;09 - 00;15;43;07
Make sure that we always remember
the past, but we've got to move forward.

00;15;43;10 - 00;15;45;14
Yeah. And we don't want to repeat it.

00;15;45;14 - 00;15;48;01
The way we're doing this now is we

00;15;48;01 - 00;15;51;01
have people that are in the community,
the people who are willing.

00;15;51;06 - 00;15;54;07
And especially, again, when you're talking
about the clinical trials

00;15;54;07 - 00;15;58;01
and and breaking it down, and the heroes,
the African-American doctors

00;15;58;01 - 00;16;03;11
and physicians who fought for us
to be able to get new medicines.

00;16;03;13 - 00;16;07;03
When you think back, maybe 50,
60 years ago

00;16;07;11 - 00;16;11;25
when a person was diagnosed with diabetes,
they would go into a diabetic coma

00;16;12;01 - 00;16;14;02
and more than likely
they won't make it out.

00;16;14;02 - 00;16;15;05
They were amputees.

00;16;15;05 - 00;16;19;12
And then all of a sudden you get diabetic
medications and people are living.

00;16;19;22 - 00;16;23;10
And so we have to look
at all of the strides that has been made

00;16;23;10 - 00;16;25;09
when it comes to clinical trials.

00;16;25;09 - 00;16;28;17
And you said something
that was so profound, Doctor

00;16;28;17 - 00;16;32;04
Winn,
you said when you go to a clinical trial,

00;16;32;21 - 00;16;35;26
that medicine that's being concocted,

00;16;36;06 - 00;16;39;06
it's designed specifically for you.

00;16;39;24 - 00;16;42;29
Look, you, listen,
I would say these days, clinical trials,

00;16;42;29 - 00;16;47;06
you bring hope,
hope that that drug that you first of all,

00;16;47;06 - 00;16;49;09
we know that
people who are in clinical trials,

00;16;49;09 - 00;16;50;02
even if they're not

00;16;50;02 - 00;16;53;03
getting the experimental drugs,
have a better outcome in general

00;16;53;07 - 00;16;56;07
than people who are not on trials
that that that's in the literature.

00;16;56;09 - 00;16;57;14
But what's funny

00;16;57;14 - 00;17;00;15
is that when I think of trials,
when people say, well, there ain't no more

00;17;00;15 - 00;17;02;27
we can do for you, we said, well,
maybe we got a trial for you.

00;17;02;27 - 00;17;07;13
A trial means that there's potential
hope that the drug, the experimental drug,

00;17;07;13 - 00;17;10;22
may work for you,
but it also means that if it doesn't work

00;17;10;22 - 00;17;13;24
for you, there's hope that it may work
for somebody else tomorrow.

00;17;13;24 - 00;17;14;19
So come on.

00;17;14;19 - 00;17;15;21
I think at some point

00;17;15;21 - 00;17;20;11
we got to stop playing with ourselves and
and getting confused at the volume.

00;17;20;14 - 00;17;23;15
Just because you have a volume
of information coming from your web

00;17;23;15 - 00;17;26;27
pages, from TikTok to Google
don't mean that you become smarter.

00;17;27;00 - 00;17;29;10
It just means you just got more things
to look at.

00;17;29;10 - 00;17;31;24
The reality is,
we need to get to a community

00;17;31;24 - 00;17;35;23
so that we are getting knowledge
as opposed to volume of information,

00;17;35;23 - 00;17;39;01
because volume of information
and knowledge are not the same thing.

00;17;39;16 - 00;17;40;19
Absolutely.

00;17;40;19 - 00;17;42;18
And just being on this show, remember,

00;17;42;18 - 00;17;46;16
I had to go get a second
mammogram that time and it was a doctor.

00;17;46;17 - 00;17;51;14
He lost his practice and you were like,
Clo, early detection is going to be key.

00;17;52;06 - 00;17;56;20
Just go over to VCU Massey
and just get you a second mammogram.

00;17;56;29 - 00;17;59;02
And testing is very important.

00;17;59;02 - 00;18;01;05
You have to get your physicals.

00;18;01;05 - 00;18;03;09
They are there is funding available.

00;18;03;09 - 00;18;06;17
You have lots of clinics
including VCU Massey.

00;18;06;23 - 00;18;08;09
If you need to get those checkups.

00;18;08;09 - 00;18;11;03
Come on, black people. We need you living.

00;18;11;03 - 00;18;13;28
And so what's happening
is by the time folks

00;18;13;28 - 00;18;18;01
get to the hospital, Doctor
Winn is really nothing you can do.

00;18;18;04 - 00;18;22;09
Because you could have been like, look,
this is a cancer that we could have cured.

00;18;22;17 - 00;18;25;17
You've run into something like that
before, right?

00;18;25;21 - 00;18;26;07
Oh, yeah.

00;18;26;07 - 00;18;29;01
No, I think that, you know, here's
what I say.

00;18;29;01 - 00;18;33;05
If it was a jet magazine, if we had better
communications and I'm saying, you know,

00;18;33;05 - 00;18;36;24
listen, it's hard because you got TikTok,
Google, Snapchat, and all of that.

00;18;36;27 - 00;18;39;01
So people don't know where to get
the information from.

00;18;39;01 - 00;18;42;21
Most people right now, as we are standing,
they don't recognize that from 2019

00;18;42;21 - 00;18;46;23
to 2022, there was only one
African-American cancer center director

00;18;46;24 - 00;18;48;08
of a of a designated center.

00;18;48;08 - 00;18;50;06
And that was me, Doctor Rob Winn.

00;18;50;06 - 00;18;52;26
But in 2025, we now got four.

00;18;52;26 - 00;18;55;04
We got John Carpten,
out there in California.

00;18;55;04 - 00;18;57;02
We got Selwyn Vickers in New York.

00;18;57;02 - 00;18;57;29
Absolutely.

00;18;57;29 - 00;19;00;15
He's running the Comprehensive Cancer
Center, The City of Hope.

00;19;00;15 - 00;19;04;15
You got Selwyn Vickers who's running
the famous Memorial Sloan Kettering.

00;19;04;16 - 00;19;06;04
You have Taofeek [Owonikoko]

00;19;06;04 - 00;19;08;11
who's actually running
University of Maryland in the Midwest.

00;19;08;11 - 00;19;11;10
You've got Kunle Odunsi, who's running
University of Chicago.

00;19;11;10 - 00;19;15;24
So we keep talking about what
we don't have as opposed to what we do.

00;19;15;24 - 00;19;18;27
And sometimes I wonder as a people,
are we just more comfortable

00;19;18;27 - 00;19;21;26
looking at the deficit
then looking at the progress,

00;19;21;26 - 00;19;25;26
because we have made some progress
in the what, what I'm worry about now

00;19;26;01 - 00;19;27;17
is the progress we made.

00;19;27;17 - 00;19;31;01
We take for granted
that progress could be lost.

00;19;31;01 - 00;19;32;09
And so we're going to have to grip up

00;19;32;09 - 00;19;35;08
and decide what we're going to do
with the people. And absolutely.

00;19;35;08 - 00;19;37;04
So we got to advocate for ourselves.

00;19;37;04 - 00;19;38;12
And that's why we're here.

00;19;38;12 - 00;19;40;20
Advocate with us
and help us advocate with you.

00;19;40;20 - 00;19;42;13
We don't know the needs of the community

00;19;42;13 - 00;19;45;03
until you let us know
and be a part of what's happening.

00;19;45;03 - 00;19;47;05
So, Doctor Robert Winn,
thank you for everything.

00;19;47;05 - 00;19;49;08
We got one more break
and we're going to come back.

00;19;49;08 - 00;19;50;17
You know, we got some good news.

00;19;50;17 - 00;19;51;08
Always.

00;19;51;08 - 00;19;54;08
This is Community Conversations.

00;19;54;15 - 00;19;55;15
We're back, and it’s

00;19;55;15 - 00;19;59;13
Community Conversations,
the Black Health Wins podcast with Doctor

00;19;59;13 - 00;20;03;16
Robert Winn, director of the VCU Massey
Comprehensive Cancer Center.

00;20;03;19 - 00;20;07;01
Doctor Robert Winn,
thank you so much for all you do.

00;20;07;02 - 00;20;11;02
Now the C-word is not a death sentence
anymore.

00;20;11;03 - 00;20;14;27
With all of the strides,
the research and the science

00;20;14;27 - 00;20;18;00
that's out, and I love it
when we actually go into the lab.

00;20;18;05 - 00;20;23;02
And now we can have a pure conversation
about clinical trials.

00;20;23;02 - 00;20;27;00
A clinical trial
does not mean that you're an experiment.

00;20;27;12 - 00;20;29;17
Okay. It's an experimental drug.

00;20;29;17 - 00;20;32;08
If you try and test a drug
and it's not working.

00;20;32;08 - 00;20;34;07
They can mix it up and take it back.

00;20;34;07 - 00;20;36;15
And, you know,
I'm just breaking it down into Clo terms.

00;20;36;15 - 00;20;39;28
You know, Doctor Robert Winn
Come on now Clo.

00;20;40;11 - 00;20;40;17
Yeah.

00;20;40;17 - 00;20;43;25
So this is the by the way,
people even talk about experiment,

00;20;44;03 - 00;20;46;14
but they've been taking
all these supplements

00;20;46;14 - 00;20;49;02
and all this other stuff
they ain't got no knowledge about

00;20;49;02 - 00;20;50;29
other than what they may read on the web.

00;20;50;29 - 00;20;52;10
They ain't got no validation.

00;20;52;10 - 00;20;54;27
There ain't no sort of organization
to sort of check it.

00;20;54;27 - 00;20;57;22
But they won't put in anybody
that say that that's not an experiment.

00;20;57;22 - 00;20;59;07
Come on, quit playing with me.

00;20;59;07 - 00;21;03;22
And I think it's important
for people to know that as you are here,

00;21;03;25 - 00;21;04;26
you're a doctor.

00;21;04;26 - 00;21;06;02
And we were talking about

00;21;06;02 - 00;21;10;22
some of the disparities
when it comes to younger people, 18 to 49.

00;21;10;22 - 00;21;14;27
And you're trying to figure out
why is there a higher rate of cancer?

00;21;15;22 - 00;21;17;20
We've been talking about that.

00;21;17;20 - 00;21;19;08
Yeah, it is something.

00;21;19;08 - 00;21;22;28
It is something to look at, you know,
and in May we don't know why.

00;21;22;29 - 00;21;24;05
So let me be straight up.

00;21;24;05 - 00;21;27;20
We don't know why the age group
that we used to take for granted,

00;21;27;25 - 00;21;31;05
we used to say
cancer is a disease of aging.

00;21;31;10 - 00;21;33;24
And for the most part,
that's absolutely true.

00;21;33;24 - 00;21;37;16
Cancer is a disease of aging,
which is why you see predominantly,

00;21;37;16 - 00;21;40;19
mostly older people at some point
that, you know, even

00;21;40;19 - 00;21;43;19
the immune system gets weaker
and they get cancer, you know?

00;21;43;20 - 00;21;48;12
But for young people between 19 and 40,
there is an alarming

00;21;48;12 - 00;21;52;29
increase rate
of colorectal cancer and breast cancer.

00;21;53;29 - 00;21;55;27
The reality is we don't know why.

00;21;55;27 - 00;21;57;18
I wish I could tell you right now

00;21;57;18 - 00;22;00;20
that is something in the water you drink,
but that wouldn't be true.

00;22;00;23 - 00;22;06;26
We have no clue at the moment,
but that's where science, right?

00;22;06;26 - 00;22;10;27
Yes, is important
because it will be people like me

00;22;10;27 - 00;22;12;07
and the people over at Massey

00;22;12;07 - 00;22;14;20
and the other people in cancer centers
throughout the country

00;22;14;20 - 00;22;18;20
that are going to put our heads
and our bright, brightest minds

00;22;18;24 - 00;22;21;24
to figure out what's contributing to why,

00;22;22;05 - 00;22;26;15
in 2025 and 2024, 19 year olds to 40 year

00;22;26;15 - 00;22;30;10
olds are actually the fastest
rising rate of the folks getting cancer.

00;22;30;15 - 00;22;33;15
We don't know why,
but that's our job to figure it out.

00;22;33;21 - 00;22;35;23
And that's what the clinical trials for.

00;22;35;23 - 00;22;40;18
So yeah, if someone is diagnosed,
whether they're 19 or in that age bracket,

00;22;40;18 - 00;22;44;02
you can say, hey, look,
we need to understand the only way

00;22;44;02 - 00;22;47;26
we're going to be able to help us,
because as you said, you know,

00;22;47;26 - 00;22;51;08
cancer was of the age of the old.

00;22;51;19 - 00;22;54;12
And now what's happening
with our younger generation.

00;22;54;12 - 00;22;56;22
And we can't pretty much
put our finger on it.

00;22;56;22 - 00;22;57;11
But a lot of

00;22;57;11 - 00;23;01;10
people are not going to the doctor
because once folks are turning 18 now,

00;23;01;11 - 00;23;04;28
they're like, I'm free,
but you still need to go to the doctor.

00;23;05;11 - 00;23;06;09
No, but you know what?

00;23;06;09 - 00;23;09;05
They are free,
but they also free to get cancer.

00;23;09;05 - 00;23;13;17
It turns out that cancer don't
actually all your bravado and all your I’m

00;23;13;17 - 00;23;15;11
this and I'm that, I'm so-and-so.

00;23;15;11 - 00;23;19;08
All your tinkling brass and fury don't
mean nothing to the cells in your body.

00;23;19;22 - 00;23;22;18
You can howl at the moon,
but the reality is

00;23;22;18 - 00;23;25;18
cancer does not care about your race.

00;23;25;20 - 00;23;28;10
Cancer does not care about your age.

00;23;28;10 - 00;23;31;17
Cancer doesn't care
how much bravado you got.

00;23;31;24 - 00;23;34;23
I’m this and I got this,
cancer don't care.

00;23;34;23 - 00;23;37;23
Which is why we are trying to get people
to care.

00;23;37;23 - 00;23;38;21
Yeah, right.

00;23;38;21 - 00;23;41;06
Because cancer
ain't never gonna stop, right?

00;23;41;06 - 00;23;43;03
It won't stop. Can't stop right.

00;23;43;03 - 00;23;47;29
Cancer is always up on the bridge saying,
how am I going to cause mischief?

00;23;48;03 - 00;23;50;16
And now that in the African-American
community in particular,

00;23;50;16 - 00;23;54;24
we got 18 to 40 years who are getting more
cancers, you can get angry.

00;23;54;25 - 00;23;56;07
You could be frustrated.

00;23;56;07 - 00;23;57;21
You can do all these things,

00;23;57;21 - 00;23;59;13
but all the things ain't going to stop

00;23;59;13 - 00;24;01;16
the fact
that cancer is going to come for you.

00;24;01;16 - 00;24;03;26
So the reality is our job as a community.

00;24;03;26 - 00;24;08;14
And Sister Clo, this is why I appreciate
you is really just to do one simple thing.

00;24;08;15 - 00;24;10;14
Keep it simple, keep it real.

00;24;10;14 - 00;24;13;04
Cancer ain't no joke. Cancer don't play.

00;24;13;04 - 00;24;15;19
And the reality is, it’s stupid.

00;24;15;19 - 00;24;19;01
In 1924 I get it.
You ain't had no medicine.

00;24;19;10 - 00;24;20;25
You ain't had no screening.

00;24;20;25 - 00;24;22;11
Nobody even knew what cancer was.

00;24;23;10 - 00;24;26;03
In 2025, there is no excuse.

00;24;26;03 - 00;24;27;17
Now quit playing it.

00;24;27;17 - 00;24;30;16
You got screening. We got medicine.

00;24;30;16 - 00;24;33;22
We got access to care
that we didn't have before.

00;24;34;07 - 00;24;37;21
And we even got clinical trials
that are not so much an experimentation

00;24;37;21 - 00;24;38;24
as an extension of care.

00;24;38;24 - 00;24;41;24
So when we know how to get, you know,

00;24;41;26 - 00;24;44;26
behaviors of stress
and supplements, all that stuff.

00;24;44;26 - 00;24;48;23
So the reality is it's crazier
when you have the knowledge.

00;24;49;05 - 00;24;50;22
But you know what they say.

00;24;50;22 - 00;24;53;15
As Fred Hampton once said, he don’t
need nobody to be a part of a revolution.

00;24;53;15 - 00;24;55;00
If we ain’t willing to learn.

00;24;55;00 - 00;24;56;23
Oh. No.

00;24;56;23 - 00;24;58;20
I'm just saying what you're saying.

00;24;58;20 - 00;25;01;22
So the reality is, we need to be open

00;25;01;25 - 00;25;05;02
to the lessons
that are right in front of us.

00;25;05;02 - 00;25;07;12
That the medicines can work.

00;25;07;12 - 00;25;08;25
You need to question your doctor.

00;25;08;25 - 00;25;10;02
Absolutely.

00;25;10;02 - 00;25;12;00
That the trials can work.

00;25;12;00 - 00;25;14;01
You need to question how it works.

00;25;14;01 - 00;25;15;00
Absolutely.

00;25;15;00 - 00;25;17;28
But this crazy thing that you get on
TikTok and Google

00;25;17;28 - 00;25;19;18
and think you have all the answers.

00;25;19;18 - 00;25;22;13
It's cool that you can feel
this false sense of security.

00;25;22;13 - 00;25;25;14
But cancer don't care. Cancer don't care.

00;25;25;19 - 00;25;26;19
But guess what?

00;25;26;19 - 00;25;28;07
We're coming together as one cue..

00;25;28;07 - 00;25;30;09
community and we're going to kill it.

00;25;30;09 - 00;25;33;08
Along with Doctor Robert Winn of the VCU

00;25;33;08 - 00;25;36;08
Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center,
thank you so much for this show.

00;25;36;08 - 00;25;40;02
As we celebrate our rich history
and health, we're going to do it.

00;25;40;09 - 00;25;42;18
365 thank you.

00;25;42;18 - 00;25;45;08
Come on. From well,
well let's do it. You know what?

00;25;45;08 - 00;25;49;10
It's a it's a it's a it's a it's a month
to lift every voice and sing y'all.

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So let's do that, sing for our health.
All right.

00;25;52;07 - 00;25;56;01
This is Community Conversations,
the Black Health Wins podcast.