He built the specialty for cancer surgery (surgical oncology). What he did next will surprise you.

Dr. Charles M Balch built surgical oncology into a recognized specialty in America. Then he spent fifty years teaching surgeons when cutting is the wrong first move.. Dr. Charles Balch, professor emeritus of surgical oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, has run City of Hope, led ASCO, and reorganized the cancer center around the patient instead of the department. Now he's stopped operating altogether to chase what he calls the next epoch of cancer care: knowing your risk before you ever get sick. In this conversation, Joelle and Dr. Balch get into why “early” detection is often years too late, why immunotherapy doesn't actually treat cancer, and why the disease is moving into people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s who've been told they're too young to worry. You'll hear how six weeks of immunotherapy now clears most stage 3 melanoma with no surgery, why a tumor the size of a dime already holds a billion cells, the two epidemics Balch sees coming (vaping and obesity), and the research showing that finding out you're high-risk tends to empower people rather than crush them. His whole philosophy fits in three words, and he closes the episode with them. 01:32 The one thing he knew for sure worked 06:23 The drug that doesn't treat cancer 08:40 20% lived. Now 95% do. No surgery. 11:07 Why most patients feel nothing at all 13:34 Why he walked away from the operating room 17:54 The prevention that isn't just lifestyle 19:56 Your lunch might be five packs a day 25:14 The cheap test your doctor never mentions 29:37 "You're too young" is how we miss it 35:18 The good days he called his "no cancer" days 42:18 Why high-risk news is a gift, not a sentence 45:35 Three words for anyone who wants to kick cancer's ass