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In this episode of Doctors Making a Difference, Dr. Peter Crane speaks with Dr. Candace Westgate about her journey into medicine, her passion for cancer prevention, and the rapidly developing field of MCED testing. They explore how blood-based testing may detect multiple cancers before symptoms appear, what current research shows, and the challenges surrounding guidelines, cost, and insurance coverage.
Dr. Westgate also shares her deeply personal connection to cancer, including losing her father to pancreatic cancer and experiencing melanoma herself, and explains how these experiences shaped her mission to help patients detect cancer earlier.
Episode Highlights
- Dr. Westgate's journey from South Africa to the United States and her unexpected path into OB/GYN
- Why she deliberately chose what she called “happy medicine” after losing her father to pancreatic cancer at age 16
- Her transition from traditional OB/GYN practice into cancer prevention, hereditary cancer risk assessment, and personalized medicine
- The limitations of current cancer screening, particularly for cancers without established screening tests
- Why approximately 70% of cancer deaths in the United States involve cancers for which there is no established screening test, according to the discussion
- How multi-cancer early detection testing developed from research involving cell-free DNA in prenatal testing
- The difference between inherited genetic testing and MCED testing
- What PATHFINDER 2 revealed about MCED testing in a real-world U.S. population
- The importance of specificity and positive predictive value when evaluating multi-cancer screening tests
- Why MCED testing is intended to complement not replace, existing cancer screenings
- What the NHS-Galleri randomized controlled trial revealed about stage I–IV cancer detection
- The ongoing REACH trial and the need for more long-term evidence
- Current questions surrounding guidelines, appropriate patient populations, cost, and insurance coverage
- Dr. Westgate's personal melanoma experience and how it reinforced her passion for early detection
- Her transition away from delivering babies and toward menopause care, personalized medicine, and cancer prevention
- Why physicians should “stay curious” and continue following the rapidly evolving MCED field
Top 3 Takeaways
- Cancer screening is entering a new era: Multi-cancer early detection aims to identify signals from multiple cancers through a single blood-based test, potentially expanding screening beyond the limited number of cancers currently covered by established screening programs.
- MCED is not a replacement for existing screening: Dr. Westgate emphasizes that emerging blood-based testing should currently be viewed as an addition to recommended screenings such as mammography, cervical cancer screening, and colorectal cancer screening.
- Personal experiences can become a powerful source of purpose: Westgate's experiences with her father's pancreatic cancer, her mother's breast cancer, and her own melanoma ultimately strengthened her commitment to helping patients detect cancer earlier.
About Dr. Candace Westgate
Dr. Candace Westgate is the Director of Personalized Medicine at Community Health Network, a board-certified OB/GYN, menopause specialist, and cancer prevention expert. Her work focuses on personalized medicine, hereditary cancer risk assessment, multi-cancer early detection, and helping patients take a more proactive approach to cancer prevention. She previously developed the AHEAD program to bring genetics and personalized genomics into routine clinical care.
Connect with Dr Candace:
LinkedIn: Dr. Candace Westgate
About the Host:
Dr. Peter Crane is a board-certified physician, educator, and storyteller with a heart for service and a calling to spotlight doctors who make a difference, in their communities, in medicine, and in the lives they touch.
Through Doctors Making a Difference, he brings you into intimate conversations with physicians who have overcome challenges, redefined success, and found purpose in and beyond the clinic. His goal is simple: to help more doctors stay in medicine by showing them what's possible.
About the Show:
Doctors Making a Difference is more than a podcast—it’s a movement to highlight the good, the gritty, and the deeply human side of medicine.
In every episode, Dr. Peter Crane interviews physicians whose stories defy the script. From burnout recovery to bold career pivots, health challenges to quiet leadership, this show honors the truth that healing begins with connection—and doctors, too, deserve to be whole.
Visit: doctorsmakingadifference.com
LMC Series Note:
Living with Metastatic Cancer (LMC) explores the science, decisions, and day-to-day realities of life with advanced disease—through candid physician–patient conversations.
The Doctors Making a Difference Podcast is for informational purposes only and does not substitute for medical, legal, or professional advice. Always consult appropriate experts regarding your unique circumstances.
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