Cancer Rates

(theme music) (laura)stay tuned to pbs39 as weshowcase the people, places, and issues thatmatter to you on focus. we begin with a lookat how personalized medicine changes cancertreatment and diagnosis to save livesand reduce side effects. then we ride the road to riowith two track cyclists from our region as they competein the 2016 summer olympics and tour one of the lehighvalley's newest attraction,

the national museumof industrial history. coming up next on focus. focus is for our community. (grover)focus showcases the people. the places. and the issuesthat matter to you. (grover)focus on what matters. (brittany)you never what you're goingto see when you tune into focus. (announcer)support for focusis provided by:

thank you for joining us,i'm laura mchugh. in this episode we'll focuson history and education, but first we focuson health and advancements in cancer treatmentsand diagnosis that give doctors and patientshope for better survival rates. doctors called this approach, known as personalizedor precision medicine, the future of cancer treatmentand it's already impacting the lives of patientsacross our community.

(female #1)jumping on the bed--jump, henry! (laura)inside her home in allentown,58-year-old sharon thompson, sings and dances with her three-year-old grandson, kendrick. (sharon)no more monkey'sjumping on the bed! (laura)something she couldn'tdo two years ago. (sharon)i couldn't breathe on my own. i had an oxygen machine in here,with it had a 50 foot cord, i had 24 hour oxygen. ain't that a beat?

i had stage fourterminal lung cancer with less thansix months to live. (laura)in 2014, sharon found outher cancer spread to both of her lungs, into severalbones, and into her brain. (sharon)the doctors told me at the timei had a strong heart, and, um, and at that time i said, "i'm not dead yet,i'm gonna fight." (laura)sharon's fight led herto lehigh valley health network. it also here, shows allof the spots of her cancer.

in the right lung,left lung, in the neck, and various lymph nodes. lymph nodes downin her abdomen and then here you can see that everything prettymuch has disappeared. (laura)her treatment includedoral medication and a surgical procedureknown as gamma knife. (doctor #1)it's targeted therapy. gamma knifeis pinpoint radiation.

one shot of radiation that will,hopefully, obliterate a tumor. right now, i'm cancer free. (laura)due to what's personalizedor precision medicine according to the health network'schief of hematology oncology, dr. eliot friedman. (eliot)every patients' cancer willhave specific properties, and that will give us cluesas to how to treat them. now, we're using moreof a silver bullet, a target directedat that patient's cancer,

so that we're treatingthem specifically without the horribleside effects of chemotherapy. i truly believe that that isthe future of cancer treatment and diagnosis. (laura)at easton hospital,dr. sukamal saha agrees. he pioneered a procedureto prevent the spread of colon cancerby identifying and removing the lymph nodes most likelyto be infected first. his work has earned him rankings

among the nation'stop cancer doctors, by newsweek andus news & world report. (sukamal)we believe thatin another 5-10 years, the whole diagnosis of cancerand the treatment of cancer will be very differentthan it is today. i think a lot of thenew, exciting fields in the treatmentlandscape in oncology is really changing with, um,genomics and immunotherapy. (laura)at cancer treatmentcenters of america

at eastern regional medicalcenter in philadelphia, dr. ankur parikh usesadvanced genomic testing to deliver personalizedmedicine to patients. (ankur)so, what we've realized is thatthere could be anywhere from, you know, a couple to over100 different mutations in patients' tumors,and what genomic testing really is doing is lookingto see if there is any specific mutationsin their tumor type, and seeing if byblocking that mutation

you could changethe progression of disease. (laura)the treatment optionsinclude immunotherapy. (ankur)immunotherapy is using yourbody's own immune system to help fight the cancer. patient's, at leastfrom my experience, tolerate immunotherapybetter than chemo, and the trials thatreally compare the two also showed similar findings. (laura)an avid runner, paul petruzzi,

was diagnosed withmelanoma in 2001. twelve years laterthe cancer returned in the form oftwo brain tumors and other tumorsthroughout his body. (paul)i got over the initialshock of it and was told, "boy, you're in bad shape. there's tumors in your lung,there's multiple in your liver, there's one in your neck." (laura)paul joined a clinical studywith dr. sanjiv agarwala,

chief of oncology and hematology at saint luke'suniversity health network. (sanjiv)we've learned that using otherforms of treatment such as using the immune systemmore effectively, using immunotherapieslook much more promising. using drugs that targetmutations within the melanoma that are driving it to grow, tospread, makes a lot more sense that just giving peoplea chemical poison, which just mayor may not work.

(paul)immediately, by gettingthe immunology drugs, i felt better,i felt, like, stronger, and i--little by little,i just said, "you know, let me--let mestart jogging a little bit." within six monthsi was running road races again. (soothing music) we'll further explore each ofthese treatments and techniques in depth later this season. for now, we continueour focus on health

with two of the most eliteathletes in our region. for more, here's focusreporter, brittany garzillo. thanks, laura. america watched as team usatook home 121 medals at the rio 2016 olympic games in rio de janeiro, brazil. the lehigh valley regionhad even more to root for as two track cyclist frompenn state lehigh valley competed in the games.

what did theirroad to rio look like? to find out we joined them a fewweeks before the games began. (birdsong) shortly after nine on this quietjune morning in burkes county, bobby lea is morethan half way into his first workout of the day. (bobby)average training day hasusually three workouts and, um, i'll start first thing in themorning with an indoor workout. (brittany)before he breaks for breakfast

and rides the road, a road that ledto the rio 2016 olympic and paralympics gamesin rio de janeiro, brazil. we're going all in for a medal. make no mistake about it. (brittany)in august, the three timeolympic cyclist placed 17th in the men's track cyclingevent called the omnium. it consists of six events, bothsprint and endurance specific. points are rewardedfor each event, and the person

with the fewest totalnumber of points wins. prior to the summer gameswe followed bobby on a day of training at the valley preferred cyclingcenter in trexlertown. (bobby)it's a long day, and it's 10-12hours between the beginning of the first workoutand the end of the last workout. (brittany)all in pursuitof one perfect ride. (bobby)the olympicsare the destination, but really enjoying the rideand appreciating it for what is

is really the beautyin the whole sport, and i think that holdstrue for any sport. the destination is just that,that's the end of the road and then the journey is over. (brittany)bobby's olympic journey almostended after he tested positive for the narcoticnoroxycodone in 2015. (bobby)i've spent a lot of timethinking about that all winter, figuring out howto comes to terms with the fact that maybemy career was already over.

(brittany)after nearly alifetime pushing pedals. (bobby)got to be one-year-oldsitting on the bike there, and did my first kid's racewhen i was three. (brittany)at 32 years old,bobby says this year will likely mark the finish lineof his full time cycling career. (bobby)this will definitely bemy last run at the olympics. as the saying goes, you neversay never and always, but, um, most likely scenariois that this will be my last seasonof full-time racing.

(calming guitar music) (brittany)bobby's teammate and fellowpennsylvania native, matt barandski, made his cyclingdebut at the summer games. it's a lifelong goaljust to go to the games. (brittany)in june, we met up with mattin his hometown of perkasie, where he and his fatherand full-time coach, mike, trained for matt'supcoming event. (bobby)the keirin is, um, probably themost fun you can have on a bike. eight laps on a 250 meter,

which is the standardinternational regulation track. (brittany)how long have youbeen coaching your son? since before itwas called coaching. (brittany)the 23-year-old studentat penn state university says he learned how to ridea bike at three years old and was racingon the track by age six. (matt)bobby's actually played a fairlylarge role in my cycling career. he is one of the guys, you know,when i was six and seven and eight years old that taughtme how to race on the track

and, you know, really helped mefall in love with the sport. (brittany)in 2010 at age 17, mattbecame the youngest american to win an elite tracknational championship, according to usa cycling. (linda)some days you can't tell ifmatthew won or matthew lost, that's just how he is,he's very calm. that's how i think matthewcan stay in the game because he doesn't everlet anything get to his head. (brittany)he holds onto one word,"believe."

written on his handle barsand on the wall of his home gym. (brittany)why "believe"? (matt)i really started when i was,like, 14, and i think my mom was the first one who did it, and ithink she wrote it on my bike and was like youjust have to believe. (brittany)matt didn't win his race in rio. he was eliminatedin the first round, but at the end of that ridehe claimed a new title, one reserved for the mostelite athletes in the world.

(bobby)medal or no medal, we'reall part of the same club. we're all olympians. (brittany)for focus, i'mbrittany garzillo reporting. thank you, brittany, we nowturn the focus to history and a museum almost20 years in the making. the national museumof industrial history recently openedits doors to the public, and focus reporter grover silcoxjoined in the grand opening. the long-awaited nationalmuseum of industrial history

opened its doorsfor the first time with a work whistleand a lot of enthusiasm. a flock of visitors cameto experience the milestones of america's industrial past. the new museum pays tributeto the people who made, operated, and advanced americantechnology through the decades. check it out. (work whistle blowing) this shift whistle once calledmore than 30,000 steel workers

to their jobsat bethlehem steel. (chatter and conversations) now, it calls visitorsback to the steel property for the grand opening of the national museumof industrial history. (female #2)our mission, in affiliationwith the smithsonian, is to forge a connection betweenamerica's industrial past and the innovations of todayby educating the public and inspiringthe visionaries of tomorrow.

(energetic violin music) (amy)the national museumof industrial history provides the perfectbackdrop to share the stories of american industry. (grover)president and chief executiveofficer, amy hollander, welcomes community leaders,retired steel workers, and the general public. (male #1)i think this is a tremendousasset to the city and to the steelstacks campus.

(grover)the $7.5 millionmuseum features four exhibit galleries across 18,000 square feeton the first floor. (amy)this building is part ofthe bethlehem steel complex. it was a 1913electric repair shop. and so, when wedesigned this space, we wanted to remindpeople that this building is an artifact. (grover)an overhead crane,just inside the entrance,

once hauled massive enginesand motors to work stations along the 260 footlong building. (amy)we have over 200artifacts on display, the longest operated, the last used. (grover)the iconic 1932 photoof iron workers eating lunch on a steel crossbeam, 69 floors up abovethe streets of manhattan looms large overthe museums' lobby.

(amy)that beam is a bethlehem beam,from the rca building. (grover)in the main room beyond thelobby visitors enter a gallery dedicated to the 1876centennial exhibition held in philadelphia. it was the first world's fairwhere 30,000 companies unveiled their mechanicalwonders and demonstrated america's emerging roleas a world power. (male #2)it took them two years,50,000 workers and $6 million, at the time, to puttogether the exhibition.

(amy)when it was finally built,there were 10 million visitors from 37 nations. (grover)in 1997, the nmihbecame the first member of the smithsonian'saffiliate program, which entitles it to borrowand exhibit artifacts from smithsonian collections. many of the centennialpieces are on loan from the smithsonian's nationalmuseum of american history. (male #3)this was the firstsmithsonian affiliate,

and subsequent to thatwe now have 212, and it's a remarkableway in which we can share our collection, sharethe ideas throughout america. (grover)the smithsonian loaned thismodel of the cordless engine, whose actual size took up14 acres at the fair. (male #2)that replica of whichstood 45 feet tall that's twice the heightof this ceiling, and it powered the entiremachinery hall. poet laureate, walt whitman,at the time,

stood and staredfor 30 minutes at it. (grover)a series of enginesrepresentative of those at the centennialdemonstrates line shafting in which one engine drivesa plethora of other machines each making a different product, this process enabledmass production. (amy)a reporter fromthe london times said: (grover)other smithsonian treasureson display include: the 19th centuryfrick steam engine

and the towering naismithsteam-powered hammer invented in 1837. it had multiple applications. at the steel it was usedto shape and forge parts. (classical music) many of the museum's artifactsshow the massive scale and size of american machinery. this 1914 coreless steam engineonce pumped water for the cityof york, pennsylvania.

(amy)and it pumped 8 milliongallons of water a day to the people of that city. it was so large, 115 tons, it had to be moved to the museum in nine separate parts. (grover)dozens of volunteers spent morethan four months restoring it. this gallery highlights thehistory of the silk industry. (amy)there was a 10 year period from1925 to '35 where there more women employed in the silkindustry in the lehigh valley

than there were men employedin the steel industry. (grover)children also workedthe mills in the early days. this heavy bobbin tray was oftencarried by a child laborer putting in long hours. workers fought forequitable labor laws, which improvedworking conditions and eliminated child labor. this jacquard loom stands outamong the museum's collection of silk textile machines.

(amy)it is actually the precursorto the computer because they use a binary codewith these punch cards to instruct the machineson when to raise and lower the threads. (grover)this particular jacquard loommade fancy draperies for the white house duringevery administration from herbert hooverto bill clinton. (female #3)i think it's wonderfulto have put all this history in one place.

(soft classical music) (grover)a miniature of the 1800 acrebethlehem plant was once used to teach new workersabout the site's facilities. today, retired steel workersserve as museum guides with personal storiesabout the steel. they were allcharacters, you know, there's a lot of ghosts walkingaround here, believe me. i think it's importantthat our children, and even our grandchildren,realizes what it was like.

(grover)for more than 130 yearsbethlehem steel defended, transported,and built america. it supplied munitions andartillery in world war one, and a warship a dayin world war two. it built iconic bridges such as the golden gateand george washington, and it ushered inthe age of skyscrapers with a famousbethlehem beam. visitors can see the welfarebaskets and punch clocks

used by the steel workers. they will learn how womenjoined the steel in the offices and eventually in the plant. (ed)half the populationin the north hampton county worked at bethlehem steelat one time. (harp music) (grover)in another gallery, folkslearn about allentown chemist dr. walter snelling, and howhe discovered propane in 1910 and helped developa market for it.

(upbeat music) (male #2)this is our history,this is how the united states became known to the worldas an industrial might. (grover)these relics now on displayin the newly opened national museumof industrial history, serve the narrativeof america's industrial past and the lehigh valley'sconnection to it. for focus, i'm grover silcoxreporting. thank you, grover, the focusteam recently spent some time

sharing our passionfor making television with the next generationof media producers during pbs39's annualproduction u summer camp. (energetic music) (female #4)it's super contagious,you have the bug, and you can't get rid of it, so you just haveto keep coming back. (laura)production u giveshigh school students from across our communitythe chance to work hand-in-hand

with emmy award-winningmedia professionals in a working televisionstation for an entire week. (male #4)you can learn everything thatgoes into the video production. you can learn everytype of job there is, everything thatthose jobs require, and how to work those jobs. it's just really awesometo be able to work with, like, professionals whoactually get to do this every day for a living.

(laura)the students are separatedinto three teams and each team is tasked with creating anewscast of their very own. (female #5)working other students hasactually been really fun because some of the kidsi already know from school and other kidsi've never met before. i really enjoy the collaborationprocess of working together. (laura)on each team students areassigned a specific role. we have anchors, producers, reporters, videographers,

editors, and even directors. if i'm am anchor and i'm aproducer, you don't just learn anchoring and producing,you learn camera work, you learn howto set up a tripod, you learn little bitsand pieces of editing. those students work very closelythroughout the entire week as a team to come togetherand create a finished product. teamwork's so bigin this industry, working with the team and,like, establishing, like,

good connections with differentpeople is very important. (female #4)we're all kind of likeartistic in our own way, and it's interestingto see how everyone has their own specific job,but it all comes together into a very cohesive,well-flowing piece. you know, you havea finished product and not one persondid it, but many. (female #6)my favorite part aboutproduction u is the kind of, like, family environmentthat it creates.

(male #4)my favorite part was meeting newpeople and getting to, um, try out all these separate jobsand learn how tv production is made with these people. (female #4)most people when they wantto go into this business for college, they don't havethis opportunity, to, you know, work with everyone who hasalready been in the industry and still is. (female #7)and the staff, they justknow what they're doing, and they're very helpful,and very kind,

and they're supportive,they also let you do your own thingand figure it out so that you can learnhow to do it yourself. (male #5)it's something i enjoy doing,it's my passion, something i plan ondoing in the future. it's a family,everyone's just so fun to be around, i love them. (male #6)i don't know what i'd bedoing without this program. we're so proud of theirhard work this week,

and we hope they madeproductions you can be proud of. (laura)certainly production u is one ofour favorite weeks of the year and this yeardid not disappoint, and your stories in ourfirst episode of season 4 didn't disappoint either. -oh, thank you.-aw, thanks, laura. (laura)tell me about what you'reworking on for the season ahead. (brittany)yeah, there's so much more tocome, um, i'm working on a story

about a movie that'sbeing filmed here in the lehigh valleycalled "getting grace," so we'll more learnabout that soon and some of the local peoplethat star in it. (laura)that's right, it was a hugeseason for film production in the lehigh valley,and so we'll be exploring that in one of our upcoming episodes. how about you, grover,what are you working on? (grover)speaking of film,

um, working on a storyon two classic drive-ins, shankweiler's, the oldestdrive-in in america, and, um, becky's drive-in which has beenfamily run since the 1940s, right here in the lehigh valley. (laura)it's funny because thelehigh valley is home to two, and many areas don't haveany in their entire region, so it's a prettyinteresting story. (grover)exactly, i had lots of fun. (laura)thank you both, i look forwardto those stories and much more.

and thank you for joining us. we'll see you next week. until then, rememberto focus on what matters.