Immunobuddies podcast answers patient's questions about Immunotherapy

28 November 2023

A podcast, founded and co-hosted by a Velindre Consultant, has released a miniseries of episodes answering questions on immunotherapy from a patient perspective.

The Immunobuddies, which started in February 2023, is a free podcast aimed at any anyone with an interest in immunotherapy and its impact in treating cancer.

Listen to episodes 56-61...

on Spotify
on Apple Podcasts
and on Buzzsprout.

Every episode, Dr Ricky Frazer, a Consultant Oncologist at Velindre Cancer Centre, is joined by Dr Anna Olsson-Brown from the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool, to discuss the dilemmas, challenges and progress made in the management of patients receiving immunotherapies to treat cancer. Over 60 episodes have been released, downloaded more than 14,000 times, and has had guest appearances from international experts including Professors from Harvard and the MD Anderson in the United States of America.

However, this is the first time a patient has been invited to take part in the podcast, and throughout the six episodes, Imogen Llewellyn, a stage-four melanoma patient, shares her concerns and poses questions to Ricky and Anna. In preparation for the podcasts, questions were collated from patients and clinical teams.

The topics discussed range from what is immunotherapy and its common side-effects, to adjuvant treatment and role of diet and exercise.

Dr Ricky Frazer said:

"Patients were finding the podcast through word of mouth, it felt right to create content specifically for them, to be honest we should have done this before now. Patients so often say they really don’t know where to turn to get reliable information, hopefully this will help."

About Immunotherapy at Velindre

Velindre Cancer Centre has played a key role in the treatment immunotherapy toxicities.

Part of a project led by Dr Hilary Williams and Dr Ricky Frazer, we received £830,000 of Welsh Government funding to create an Immunotherapy Toxicity Service which launched in September 2022. In November 2023 they were awarded a National Innovation Excellence Award in Glasgow for the positive impact on patient care.

Its aim is to develop same-day cancer services to keep patients who are experiencing complications out of hospital where possible and ensure toxicities are identified early to keep patients on treatment.