>> Jane Seymour: Funding for "Feel Grand" is provided by.

>> At AETNA, we believe a health insurance company should be as passionate about their members' health as they would be their own.

Because a healthier you leads to a healthier community, and healthier communities lead to a healthier world.

>> Right At Home is dedicated to providing in-home care and assistance to help seniors remain independent and enjoy their lives.

We match the care and caregiver to each client.

The right care right at home.

>> The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook, offering books from Barnes and Noble plus movies, TV shows, and apps with book recommendations and tools for everyday use.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook provides these options in a seven-inch tablet.

>> Jane Seymour: Today on "Feel Grand", we'll take a look at one of the most common and fatal illnesses facing our generation - cancer.

In this episode, we'll be speaking with Dr. Cary Presant about redefining cancer, the new age of cancer technology, and the treatments that are available to treat forms of this disease.

And how it's possible to continue to live your life in spite of the diagnosis that all of us fear.

[ Music ] [ Applause ] Hello, and welcome to "Feel Grand".

I'm your host, Jane Seymour.

In some form or another, directly or indirectly, each of us has been confronted by cancer.

Half of all men and one-third of all women will develop cancer at some point in their lifetime.

Think about that for a second.

That's a staggering number of people.

Half of the men that you know and one-third of the women that you know will fight cancer.

When you hear statistics like that, it certainly seems that cancer is an avoidable war, but despite the prevalence of cancer, many advancements made in the past several years are not only increasing the quality of life of people living with cancer, but also increasing our chances of surviving it.

Cancer can strike in many different forms in any part of our bodies.

Though a cancer diagnosis may come as a surprise, that doesn't mean you should feel unprepared to fight it.

On each episode of "Feel Grand", we like to start the conversation by hearing from someone just like you who's living with the illness or the health issue that we're discussing on the show.

So let's meet William, a Vietnam veteran who has fought in the trenches of more than one war.

>> Well, it was December, you know, Christmas time.

I felt a little tired, but my wife and [inaudible], looked at me, and I was turning yellow.

And we, when I started looking in the mirror, and I could really see it in my eyes, I said, yeah, I got a problem going on.

So first chance I got I went to see my primary doctor, and he sent me on to a cancer doctor, and then I actually had a surgery in 2003, January 4 trying to get at the cancer.

They went in, and about three hours later they said, no.

Stop the surgery.

They gave me three to six months to live.

You're facing life and death.

Then I started thinking about way back when I was drafted into the service and being a Vietnam veteran, and then having survived Vietnam, I got wounded over there, and I'm saying this can't be happening.

I belong to the 101st Airborne.

We were aero soft [phonetic].

We'd helicopter into the [inaudible] Valley.

We were up, we ended up dealing with the NVA, and I got wounded, it was a big operation in 1969, it was called Hamburger Hill.

And I was wounded coming down that Hill May 23rd, but I never thought I would ever experience anything comparable to Vietnam, but I did with pancreatic cancer.

You knew what you had with the cancer.

There, you didn't know what you were facing from day to day.

Vietnam made me stronger, but it took a lot of years, but the cancer just makes you change how you live your life.

You know, what you decide to eat, when you decide to go somewhere, or how much time you spend out, how much rest you need.

The recovery from this pancreatic is, you're never totally recovered.

You can live with cancer, and you can live a long time with cancer, and you just got to make up your mind, and saying I'm going to be better than this, and do the best I can.

This June, it's 11 and a half years.

It's unbelievable.

I never imagined that I would have the opportunity to be here and to do these things I'm doing, but in my mind, I always felt I'll never give up, and with my wife's support and my family, it's tremendous.

>> Jane Seymour: Thank you, William, for sharing your story.

When we hear true survival stories like yours, even with such a frightening disease, it reminds us that anything is possible when it comes to waging the war against cancer.

Today our guest is Dr. Cary Presant.

Dr. Presant is a practicing hematologist and medical oncologist.

He's always been involved in laboratory and clinical investigations, and was the director of cancer programs at Washington University School of Medicine, the Jewish Hospital of St. Louis, City of Hope Medical Center, Citrus Valley Health Partners, and St. Vincent Medical Care in Los Angeles.

Dr. Presant is the author of more than 400 scientific articles as well as his book "Surviving American Medicine".

He's also a previous director of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the world's largest association of cancer physicians.

Please welcome Dr. Cary Presant.

Welcome.

So let's start with the basics.

What is cancer?

>> Dr. Cary Presant: Well, cancer is a growth.

It's a growth that doesn't stop growing in the body, and because of that, it begins to invade into other tissues.

So a lung cancer will begin to invade into the lung, pancreas cancer will invade the pancreas and the bowel, etc., but also, it's a growth that can spread through the lymph channels or the blood to other spots.

So a breast cancer might spread to the bone or to the lymph nodes.

Because of that, it's a very frightening disease, the most frightening disease of people today, and it's tough to treat.

>> Jane Seymour: What do we need to do on a daily basis to prevent cancer - >> Dr. Cary Presant: Well, cancer is one of the most preventable diseases that we have in our body.

It's preventable in many different ways.

The first thing that you need to do is know your family history.

So we should be taking our family history, writing it down, talking it over with our doctor, ask the doctor here's my family history.

What cancers am I likely to get, and how are we going to prevent them?

So having that family history is important, and giving that family history also to your children and your grandchildren can give them knowledge about what's in the family.

Without it, they may get one of those cancers.

With it, they can prevent those cancers.

Beyond that, we know that many, many cancers are related to bad diet, and because of that's, it's important to have a good diet, and so we have some examples of that.

Five helpings of fruits and vegetables every day.

Five - >> Jane Seymour: How big is a helping - >> Dr. Cary Presant: A helping is about the size of your fist, or - >> Jane Seymour: That's a lot of fruit - >> Dr. Cary Presant: Well - >> Jane Seymour: And vegetables - >> Dr. Cary Presant: Well.

>> Jane Seymour: [multiple speakers] I don't even think I eat that much - >> Dr. Cary Presant: My grandchildren's fists are very small.

So you have to realize that this is about the size of a helping, or about four ounces of a fruit juice, for example, also counts as a helping, and less red meat.

So I recommend cutting down to red meat at most once a week.

Replace it with fish and chicken and other protein sources.

In addition, we have an example here of another prevention, and this is just exercise - >> Jane Seymour: Good old exercise - >> Dr. Cary Presant: Exercise helps a lot.

Either aerobic or strengthening exercises.

These can reduce many different kinds of cancer.

We all know that smoking causes cancer.

It causes not only lung cancer, but also mouth cancer, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, lots of different cancers related to smoking, even breast cancer.

And so cutting down on smoking is extremely important.

Talk to your doctor about smoking cessation programs.

Get your family enlisted to help you.

Get your doctor and medications enlisted to help you, and really take charge of your life by stopping smoking.

You'll - >> Jane Seymour: [multiple speakers] Can you reverse the effects of smoking on your body by stopping - >> Dr. Cary Presant: Yes.

It gradually goes away with time.

The cardiovascular effects go away very rapidly.

The cancer-producing effects of all those carcinogens go away somewhat more slowly, but every year that you stop smoking, your risk of getting cancer gets less and less and less, and that's very, very important.

But there's also some medications that can help to reduce the risk of cancer as well.

Colon cancer, we know that when you have a colonoscopy and a polyp is taken out, that prevents a cancer, but in addition, we know that aspirin is also a preventive of colon cancer - >> Jane Seymour: And then the sun, of course.

>> Dr. Cary Presant: Lastly, we know that melanoma is a very, very frightening illness.

That's the reason we check our moles and report any changes in them, but there's a way to prevent melanoma, skin cancer, other types of skin cancer as well.

So slapping on a hat, slipping into a shirt, and slopping on sunscreen for good protection against the sun really reduces skin cancer as well.

>> Jane Seymour: Tell me about the latest technologies in fighting cancer - >> Dr. Cary Presant: We've had a remarkable amount of research that's come out that is changing the entire landscape of cancer care in this country.

The first of these came out of the human genome project, where we now understand all the genes that make up a normal human body, and that was followed very rapidly by the human cancer genome project.

So now we know for most cancers, all of the mutations, the changes that are making it a cancer cell rather than a normal cell.

This means that we now can use this understanding of genes to identify gene mutations in our body that makes us, gives us a high risk of having cancer.

Breast cancer, colon cancer, endometrial cancer.

We can identify those genes.

Secondly, we can find out if a cancer does occur which cancer's going to be very aggressive, and which is going to be very mild.

We know that we can now target these gene changes with different types of therapy.

Different types of drugs aim and target different kinds of gene changes.

So when we know what those gene changes are, we can personalize the medicine for the individual patient.

These have revolutionized care in the United States - >> Jane Seymour: And this is pretty recent, isn't it - >> Dr. Cary Presant: This is very recent, all within the last two years - >> Jane Seymour: Really - >> Dr. Cary Presant: Every meeting that we have in cancer now has new changes and new drugs that are personalized medicine for patients.

Beyond that, we have much better radiation that can focus radiation down into smaller areas, avoiding the toxicity to the rest of the body, and we have surgeries that are much less invasive than before by using robotic techniques.

So that surgeons no longer have to dig in in a big incision.

Now they can operate with small little robot hands, which are almost as fun to work with as video games, but they save lives, and they save side effects in, from surgery, and as a result, people who are older who might not have been eligible for a big surgery before now are eligible for robotic surgery.

Most of all, we have immunology that's changing the face of cancer.

We have believed that immunology was going to be important for probably fifty years now, but it's never worked in the past.

Now, however, we have new immunotherapy programs and vaccines that are very, very good, very powerful in creating cures of patients that were never able to be cured before.

This is a revolution - >> Jane Seymour: Well, that actually is fascinating because my personal story is that my father, who was a fellow at the Royal College, he was a doctor himself, had terrible pain in his legs, and they kept saying there's nothing wrong.

You haven't broken anything.

You're just getting old.

You know, you've got aches and pains, but he was in terrible pain, and then eventually they discovered that he had cancer, and he had cancer of the bone that they never detected and cancer in the lungs.

And he was told he wasn't going to live very long.

He had months to live.

Well, basically, I was in America at the time, and I called my father, knowing that he didn't believe in anything alternative, and I said there's this clinic that does alternative stuff, and, you know, I'm happy to pay for you to go there because I'm devastated, and I'm surely you don't want to do it.

And he called the next day, and he said yes, I want to come and do it.

We were all in shock.

He came, and one of the things that that clinic did was exactly this.

They vaccinated him with his own cancer, and we were told we weren't allowed to tell anyone because they were going to be closed down for doing it.

They had to do it secretly.

So it was fantastic and fascinating to me that my father instinctively knew that this place might be doing something that would help him, and actually it gave him quality of life for a little bit longer than he would have had, and it was fantastic.

I mean, it's amazing to hear that something that was poo pooed at that time has now become a part of, you know, the latest in medical technology - >> Dr. Cary Presant: Well, Jane, that's a really important story, and you're sharing it with everyone is really, really important for what we should take out of that.

Number one, your dad had pains.

They didn't go away.

Now there's some stubborn people, I'm one of them, maybe your dad was one of them - >> Jane Seymour: All doctors are, right - >> Dr. Cary Presant: Yes, we are - >> Jane Seymour: Doctors are never sick - >> Dr. Cary Presant: Oh, that's going to go away, you know - >> Jane Seymour: Doctors will not see doctors - >> Dr. Cary Presant: No, but the most important thing is you need a second opinion at times - >> Jane Seymour: Yes.

>> Dr. Cary Presant: Whenever someone says you've got cancer, you need a second opinion to make certain that that pathologist who made that diagnosis in the lab was right.

Your dad needed a second opinion for a symptom that doesn't go away - >> Jane Seymour: Right - >> Dr. Cary Presant: In my book "Surviving American Medicine", I ha a whole chapter on my ten commandments for second opinions.

When should you get them.

Where should you get them.

How do you get them.

This is important, and your dad is a perfect illustration of how important that is - >> Jane Seymour: And, you know what, wouldn't you say that the whole psychology, the whole way of, the way you approach fighting cancer is probably one of the biggest things that you can do.

I mean, one of the most important things about being positive, about just saying I'm taking this on.

I mean, the amazing power of the human spirit, it's pretty extraordinary, isn't it?

I mean, you hear stories of people who basically given a death sentence, and then they just said no, you know, I'm fighting this one - >> Dr. Cary Presant: And Bill's story that we were - >> Jane Seymour: Exactly - >> Dr. Cary Presant: In the introduction is one of those.

Psychology is such an important component.

We know that people who have a very positive attitude have a stronger immune system.

That is really, really important for us, but also people who have a good optimistic view we know have a higher control rate for their cancer, they get much better responses to the therapy that we give them.

Most importantly, they have a lot more enjoyment in life.

Their quality of life is so much better - >> Jane Seymour: You know what, my friends who've survived cancer, every one of them, their life has changed for the better, and every one of them has said that they didn't want to have cancer, but the byproduct of surviving cancer is that they are different people now, and they're more positive, and they appreciate every single waking moment that they have - >> Dr. Cary Presant: Well, all of us should feel that every moment's a gift, but until you're suddenly facing a life-threatening problem, we take it for granted, don't we.

We take - >> Jane Seymour: We do - >> Dr. Cary Presant: Life for granted.

Now when we have so many cancer survivors, you know, over the age of 65, one out of every five people is a cancer survivor.

That's how common cancer is.

Those people are empowered in two ways.

First of all, to enjoy their own lives better, and also they're role models for us.

You can survive cancer.

Cancer cure rates are very high, and that means that if you get it, you shouldn't give up.

You should get that positive attitude.

Find a doctor who's got a positive attitude.

Get friends around you who have positive attitudes.

Use mind-body connecting exercises.

It could be yoga.

It could be transcendental meditation.

It could be guided imagery.

There are so many different ways of having a positive attitude that empowers you to control this disease and cure this disease.

>> Jane Seymour: With cancer being such an important topic affecting so many people, we expect there are a lot of questions.

We thought we'd have some of our audience members share their story and maybe ask a question, if you don't mind.

Bill.

>> Alright, doctor.

I'm really curious, now that I'm gone longer with my pancreatic cancer, is there any statistics on life span?

>> Dr. Cary Presant: Well, Bill, you're a very strong individual.

Thanks for sharing your story before the video.

Marvelous, and congratulations on being a cancer survivor, a cancer victor.

That's very, very important.

Radiation and chemotherapy sometimes gives remarkable responses, and there are patients who have received that type of therapy who are alive 5, 10, 15 years and doing well.

They're probably cured.

I hope and pray you are as well, but it - >> That's how I feel - >> Dr. Cary Presant: It's a real sign to get on top of a symptom very early.

It's so important because small cancers respond much better to therapy.

Pancreatic cancer is a tough one.

So any indigestion, report it to your doctor.

>> Jane Seymour: Thank you.

We have another question here, yes.

>> I was wondering if you could talk about, is there an effective universal system that records, documents cancers.

Where they're surfacing, which areas, regions they might be more prevalent, and what is done with this information - >> Dr. Cary Presant: Your question is terrific, and it is one of the reasons the American Cancer Society and the federal government have been working together to try to get to the bottom of where is cancer more prevalent, where is it less prevalent.

Are there exposures to things in the environment that are dangerous?

Do cancer clusters like up at Love Canal near Niagara Falls, are these clusters alerted us that there's some bad chemicals being released into the environment.

So there's several different answers to your question.

Number one, yes.

We keep very close records.

Your state health department has those records.

The American Cancer Society publishes a booklet every year on cancer in America and what are the frequencies in different counties throughout the country.

So you can find out in the county that you live in what's the chance of breast cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, and the federal government, the Center for Disease Control, also has this.

But beyond that, it's also a sign that because these clusters do occur that you need to watch out for what you're exposed to in your own life, in the community, etc.

So you should be on top of are there toxic waste areas that you don't want to get involved with, and also when you choose your own types of household cleaners or cosmetics.

Good to choose those that have less likelihood of having a cancer-producing chemical in them, and, fortunately, we have websites nationally that can provide lots of information.

We have the National Cancer Institute website, nih dot gov.

We have Centers for Disease Control, cdc dot gov.

We have the American Ccer Society, cancer dot org, but you'll find that these websites have lots of information that empower you to make good decisions in your life.

>> Jane Seymour: Another question.

>> Yes.

Among my peers, it seems that the frequency of pancreatic cancer is increasing, and it can be a particularly deadly form of cancer.

Are the rates of pancreatic cancer increasing, and if so, why - >> Dr. Cary Presant: Well, they are increasing a little bit.

I think part of it relates to the previous question, thank you for asking that question as well.

The, because we're exposed to lots of different chemicals that we have not been exposed to before.

That's one thing.

Number two, we're living longer.

Congratulations for all of us.

You know, our life expectancies are much longer than they were ten years ago, and cancer is a disease of aging as well.

So we know that there are more cancers because of that, but also we've recognized that pancreatic cancer is part of a constellation of cancers including colon cancer, rectal cancer, endometrial or uterine cancer, stomach cancer, esophageal cancer, and even some types of bladder and kidney cancer, and this is called [inaudible] syndrome.

It's a type of syndrome due to about three or four different mutations that can take place.

We now know how to test for those mutations so that we can tell if there's a series of these different kinds of cancers in your family.

You should be raising that question with your doctor.

Say, doctor, I've got these cancers in my family.

Can we test me to find out if I'm at risk, and then we can take steps to prevent these and take steps so that you can get screened and find any of these types of cancers much earlier when they're curable.

In my book, I talk about Michael Landon and his unfortunate experience.

He didn't know his family history, and as a result, he didn't know that this type of syndrome was probably present in his family.

Had he known that, he could have been screened, could have found his cancer much earlier when it would have been more curable.

So that story, celebrity stories of what happens to themselves, or in Jane's case in their dad and the family, these are important that we learn from these.

It just sort of gives a little kick in the head saying listen to this.

Think about your family as well in your own life and what you should do in your life.

>> Jane Seymour: Thank you, Dr. Presant, for coming on the show and helping us redefine the conversation about cancer and about how men and women cannot only conquer this illness, but also enjoy a full life in spite of it.

[ Applause ] I hope that so many of the things we've talked about today will help people in the audience and at home, and that this conversation can continue once our audience leaves today, you turn off your television at home, or close your browser wherever you might be watching from.

Remember, even when you're faced with a kind of diagnosis none of us wants to hear, the best weapon you have is your attitude and your spirit.

We know that cancer is more treatable than ever.

So if does strike the body of you or someone you care about, encourage them to keep their mind and spirit open to managing it and live like a survivor.

If you'd like more information and to continue the conversation with our experts, feel free to log on to our website at feel grand dot org.

And, remember, life is a journey, and we need to do everything we can to take care of ourselves so we can make that journey last.

So be sure to keep healthy, live well, and feel grand.

Until next time.

[ Music ] [ Music ] [ Music ] >> At AETNA, we believe a health insurance company should be as passionate about their members' health as they would be their own.

Because a healthier you leads to a healthier community, and healthier communities lead to a healthier world.

>> Right At Home provides needs-based, personally-tailored home care and assistance to seniors so they can maintain their quality of life.

The right care right at home.

>> The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook, offering books from Barnes and Noble plus movies, TV shows, and apps with book recommendations and tools for everyday use.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook provides these options in a seven-inch tablet.

[ music ]