The sixth season of Science Will Win, Pfizer's award-winning podcast, focused on cancer. The six episodes explored the disease from every angle, from its rising incidence in younger populations to the precision medicine tools helping clinicians catch it earlier and treat it more effectively. Host Dr. Raven Baxter delved deep into each topic, interviewing doctors, scientists, researchers, and Pfizer colleagues to glean their insights and discuss the ongoing effort to conquer cancer.

To further those conversations, each of the five podcast episodes was accompanied by a full-length video discussion between Dr. Raven, a molecular biologist and science educator, and one of her guests. These videos offer an opportunity to go deeper into the story, with more context and candor, from experts, survivors, and advocates with firsthand insight into the topic.

The fourth episode of the video series turns to one of the most important, and often overlooked, chapters of the cancer journey: survivorship. As five-year survival rates climb to 70%, more people than ever are living with and beyond cancer. But what does it really mean to survive? And is the healthcare system doing enough to support the people who do?

The video features a conversation between Dr. Raven and Bob Riter, a cancer survivor, patient advocate, and longtime director of the Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes. Bob brings a rare perspective to the discussion: he was diagnosed with breast cancer as a man, a diagnosis that carries its own set of challenges and misconceptions, and later faced a second cancer journey. Together, he and Dr. Raven explore the complex terrain of life after treatment, from the limitations of the much-cited "five-year survival" benchmark and the history of the word "survivor," to the real-world gaps that patients encounter when active treatment ends.

Key moments include the origins and evolution of the term "survivorship," the challenge of lost-in-transition moments when patients finish treatment and feel suddenly cut adrift, and the critical role that survivorship care plans can play. The conversation also covers how cancer intersects with work, including practical strategies like the "swivel technique" for navigating disclosure in the workplace, and how patients can take back control of their own narrative. Later, Bob and Dr. Raven examine the policy changes needed to standardize long-term survivorship care, the stark disparities in survival rates tied to access to care, and Bob's personal experience navigating a second cancer diagnosis years after his first.

It’s a deeply personal conversation, as well as an urgent call for systemic change, a reminder that beating cancer is only the beginning of a much longer road, and a recognition that science and society must work together to make that road more navigable for everyone.

Watch the full conversation below: