Teri Pollastro shares how she combined standard of care treatment with bold, informed self-advocacy — and why that combination may have shaped her extraordinary 22-year survival after a stage 4 metastatic breast cancer diagnosis.

Her story highlights a critical reality:

Standard of care is foundational.
But progress often requires patients willing to responsibly go beyond it.

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What if something as small as the sweetener in your coffee could decide whether your cancer treatment works?

In this episode, Dr. Abby Overacre, a microbiome and immunology researcher at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, discusses her team’s new findings published in Cancer Discovery: the common artificial sweetener sucralose can undermine immunotherapy effectiveness by disrupting the gut microbiome and depleting immune-fueling amino acids like arginine.

Even modest use—about three packets of Splenda per day—was associated with faster tumor growth and poorer progression-free survival in both preclinical models and cancer patients. Dr. Overacre explains how the microbiome links diet to immune response, why natural sweeteners such as stevia and monk fruit appear safer, and how fiber-rich and fermented foods can support gut and immune health during treatment.

She also shares emerging research into arginine and citrulline supplementation, fecal microbiota transplants (FMT), and how restoring microbial balance could improve outcomes across cancer types, including melanoma, lung, and liver metastases.

Key takeaways:

—Sucralose consumption can blunt immunotherapy response.

—Gut microbiome diversity plays a pivotal role in cancer outcomes.

—Fiber and fermented foods strengthen immune-microbiome synergy.

—Arginine and citrulline may help restore immune cell metabolism.

Patients can take concrete steps to protect their microbiome during therapy.

“Just three packets of sucralose a day were enough to completely blunt immunotherapy response. Patients deserve to know this.” — Dr. Abby Overacre

🎧 Listen now and learn what every cancer patient on immunotherapy should know about artificial sweeteners.

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When Kristen Dahlgren was diagnosed with breast cancer, she thought she’d seen it all as an NBC correspondent. But she quickly discovered a story no one was telling: the promise of therapeutic cancer vaccines. These revolutionary treatments are showing 10+ year survival in advanced breast cancer clinical trials, and similar mind blowing results for other cancers, yet most doctors—and patients—still don’t know they exist.

In this inspiring and informative episode, Kristen shares her journey from diagnosis to advocacy, the science behind cancer vaccines, and how we can all play a role in bringing them to market faster.

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