Nearly forty years after Tod Waldron was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma as freshman at the U of I, he says the most difficult part was talking about his cancer with his girlfriend (now wife), Betsi and his parents.“I was pretty nonchalant about it at the time, because I just didn’t know enough,” said Tod, “but my parents were from a generation that didn’t discuss cancer.

Chemistry professor Paul Hergenrother identified a molecule that appears to cause many cancer cells to self-destruct. This week marks the start of a clinical trial on the potential new drug that has shown promising results when tested on lab animals with cancer. If it is found to be safe and effective in humans, the new drug may improve prognoses for patients with the most aggressive forms of brain cancer and other forms of the disease.

WILL is producing a wealth of content for radio and television tied to the upcoming documentary Cancer: Emperor of All Maladies on WILL-TV on March 31st, April 1st, and April 2nd. All of our stories on cancer will be collected here.