Cancer rarely comes from a single cause. In this important and thought-provoking presentation, author, integrative clinician, and Stage IV cancer survivor Brandon LaGreca, L.Ac., explores how biology and lived experience converge—how genetics, environment, stress physiology, and unresolved trauma can intersect in ways that shape cancer risk, progression, and even relapse patterns.
Rather than reducing cancer to unfavorable genetics or environmental factors beyond our control, or blaming the patient for poor lifestyle choices, this session offers a compassionate, evidence-informed framework for understanding the body’s terrain. The presentation reviews key milestones in the history of stress and trauma research, then connects those findings to hard-won clinical insights—highlighting how chronic stress signaling, inflammatory cascades, immune dysregulation, sleep disruption, and behavioral coping patterns may influence disease course and pathways.
A major feature of this class is the integrative lens: Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western medical perspectives are placed side by side to show how different systems assess a patient’s patterns, vulnerabilities, and strengths. The goal isn’t to choose one model over the other—it’s to expand the toolkit. Attendees gain a clearer sense of how supportive, integrative approaches may be used alongside standard oncology care to strengthen resilience, reduce physiological stress load, and improve quality of life.
The session closes with a practical empowerment segment designed to restore a sense of agency. Common barriers to personal agency are named—without judgment—and participants are introduced to guiding questions that can support clearer clinical decision-making, deeper self- and patient advocacy, and the steady development of an anticancer mindset.
What participants can expect to take away:
• A grounded overview of how genetics and environment interact in cancer biology
• A clear, compassionate explanation of stress/trauma pathways and why they matter clinically
• An integrative comparison of TCM and Western assessment strategies
• Practical, mindset-oriented prompts that support agency, discernment, and healing-centered action
Brandon LaGreca, L.Ac., MAcOM, is an author, integrative clinician, and 10-year Stage IV cancer survivor who specializes in the interplay of genetics and epigenetics, and the roles of stress, environment, emotion, and mindset, in both causing and recovering from cancer and other chronic illnesses.
After 10 years in private practice, Brandon experienced firsthand the journey of the wounded healer when a series of small bowel obstructions led to hospitalization and a diagnosis of Stage !V non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He achieved remission eight months later following an integrative oncology protocol that included immunotherapy without surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy
Brandon has since dedicated his career to empowering patients through and beyond cancer and other chronic illnesses. He has written two books on the approaches that have seen him through his own sustained recovery and that he has employed to assist the healing journeys of his patients: Cancer, Stress, and Mindset: Focusing the Mind To Empower Healing and Resilience, and Cancer, Trauma, and Emotions: A Traditional Medicine Path to Spiritual Wellness.
He is also the author of Cancer and EMF Radiation: How To Protect Yourself From the Silent Carcinogen of Electropollution, and regularly shares his thoughts on healing at the Empowered Patient Blog.
Fulfilling a dream nurtured from the age of 12, Brandon received his master’s degree in acupuncture and Oriental medicine from the prestigious Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, and later pursued postgraduate training at Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine in China.
Prior to studying East Asian Medicine, he earned a bachelor’s degree in science, with a minor in religion, at Montclair State University in New Jersey, where he graduated summa cum laude.
This event is intended for integrative practitioners of all disciplines. You do not need to be an oncologist or East Asian medicine practitioner to attend.
Non-members and med students interested in integrative medicine are also invited to join the webinar.
Cleveland Chapter contact: petergeller.lac@gmail.com