Brian Sluga started running in sixth grade. His college track team didn't qualify for the national finals, so he went home, took a long shower, and discovered a lump on his testicle. He told his dad, who stopped mowing the yard and took Brian to their family doctor near Peoria, Illinois.

After examining him, this doctor sent him to a urologist down the hall, who diagnosed testicular cancer. Sixteen hours later, Brian's surgeon removed the testicle. Because the cancer spread to his lymph nodes, Brian also had the RPLND surgery followed by regular blood tests and scans to monitor a possible recurrence, which did not happen.

Fast forward some 40 years to 2026. Brian's new book, "The Shriek I Do Remember," will be released on February 8. It's about his testicular cancer journey and other stories about his life.

From Brian Sluga's website, here is a look at the new book. "The Shriek I Do Remember is a story of hope. It'sthe story of a survivor, as Brian Sluga shares how, as a young college athlete, he found a lump. He had no idea what it was or how it would change his life." Look for it on February 8.

Enjoy this episode of Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer to learn more about Brian Sluga, his testicular cancer story, and his writing. It comes to you from the Max Mallory Foundation.

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Everyone touched by cancer knows treatments vary depending on the type of cancer. Now, with precision medicine for some cancers, treatments can be tailored to that cancer.

In this podcast, Dr. James Hamrick, MD, MPH, explains what precision medicine means for cancer patients and updates listeners on developments in testicular cancer treatments.

Dr. Hamrick is the chairman of the Caris Precision Oncology Alliance, known as Caris POA at Caris Life Sciences. He leads a global network of top cancer centers and research institutions dedicated to advancing precision oncology and biomarker-driven research, and he will tell us all about it.

Dr. Hamrick is board-certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hematology. He earned his MD and MPH in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina and completed his residency and fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco.

Now - back to precision medicine. Here's what Dr. Hamrick explains in the podcast.

00:09:55
"When we treat a cancer, it's all about hitting the cancer, the bad part, and not hurting the rest of the person. And so the more we understand the targets we should be hitting in these tumors, the better we can design treatments that hit those targets and leave the rest of the cells in a person's body alone.

"What does that mean?

"It means fewer side effects, so more effectiveness. So when you hear precision medicine, think about this: this is where my doctor is not just treating me for cancer. Not just treating me for lung cancer, but is working to understand exactly what is driving my cancer and how can we best target that so I have the best outcome, meaning we can kill those cancer cells, right?

"And the fewest side effects. That's really precision oncology. Biomarkers bio. We all know from high school biology class that the life sciences markers are the targets. So these are the targets that we can now use at Caris and other vendors. We can say, hey, that's the problem here.

"It's not just one testicular cell that went bad; it's one that has this certain molecular profile. So I tell patients: You should ask your doctors, Hey, what biomarkers do we care about? What is important? What are we targeting? What's valuable here?

"And that's part of becoming fluent in the language of your cancer, which, as many caregivers know, is really important."

Dr. Hamrick talks more about testicular cancer and the need to find genetic biomarkers for it. He explains that and related research about testicular and other types of cancer in this episode of Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer from the Max Mallory Foundation.

Links:
Caris Precision Oncology Alliance - Caris POA
https://www.carislifesciences.com/partners/caris-precision-oncology-alliance/

James Hamrick, MD, MPH
https://www.carislifesciences.com/bio/james-hamrick-md-mph/

Max Mallory Foundation
https://www.maxmalloryfoundation.com

Don't Give Up on Testicular Cance

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Scott Capozza, PT, MSPT, is a board-certified physical therapist who specializes in oncology at Yale Cancer Center.

More than 20 years ago, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer while in graduate school at age 22. As he explained in an article about his cancer journey, “Suddenly I had to schedule an orchiectomy, a retroperitoneal lymph node dissection, and two cycles of chemotherapy around lectures, laboratory work, and practical exams.”

Scott shares his experiences with testicular cancer then and now, along with what he's doing to support cancer patients and survivors through physical therapy.

Patient advocacy: Recently, as a patient advocate and testicular cancer survivor, Scott has spoken at conferences to share his lived experiences. He explains this role in the podcast.

"It almost is our responsibility or our obligation to get in front of these medical providers to say, you have to listen to your patients. You have to make these shared decisions with your patient. You can't blindly take the shotgun approach, give the treatment, and be done with it. You have to factor in quality of life. You have to factor in who that person is..."

Hear more from Scott Capozza about his work as an oncology-focused physical therapist, father, patient advocate, and testicular cancer survivor in this episode of Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer from the Max Mallory Foundation.

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If you can please support our nonprofit through Patreon.