Podcasts about genitourinary medical oncology

Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP Guest: Andrea Necchi, MD Presented at the 2025 ESMO Congress, the IMvigor011 phase 3 trial evaluated a ctDNA-guided strategy for administering adjuvant atezolizumab in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) following radical cystectomy. Patients with high-risk pathological features were monitored using a personalized, tumor-informed ctDNA assay; those testing positive for ctDNA were randomized to receive atezolizumab or placebo, while ctDNA-negative patients continued surveillance without treatment. The trial demonstrated significant improvements in both disease-free and overall survival in the atezolizumab group along with favorable outcomes among ctDNA-negative patients, suggesting many may safely avoid overtreatment. Joining Dr. Charles Turck to unpack the study results and how they highlight ctDNA's role in guiding personalized therapy is Dr. Andrea Necchi. Not only is he an investigator on this research, but he's also an Associate Professor of Oncology at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and the Director of Genitourinary Medical Oncology at IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital and Scientific Institute in Milan, Italy.

JCO PO author Dr. Shilpa Gupta at Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital shares insights into her article, "Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 3 (FGFR3) Alteration Status and Outcomes on Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICPI) in Patients with Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma". Host Dr. Rafeh Naqash and Dr. Gupta discuss how FGFR3 combined with TMB emerged as a biomarker that may be predictive for response to ICPI in mUC. TRANSCRIPT Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Hello and welcome to JCO Precision Oncology Conversations, where we bring you engaging conversations with authors of clinically relevant and highly significant JCO PO articles. I'm your host, Dr. Rafeh Naqash, podcast editor for JCO Precision Oncology and Associate Professor at the OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center. Today I am excited to be joined by Dr. Shilpa Gupta, Director of Genitourinary Medical Oncology at the Cancer Institute and co-leader of the GU Oncology Program at the Cleveland Clinic, and also lead author of the JCO PO article titled "Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 3 Alteration Status and Outcomes on Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Patients With Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma." At the time of this recording, our guest's disclosures will be linked in the transcript. Shilpa, welcome again to the podcast. Thank you for joining us today. Dr. Shilpa Gupta: Thank you, Rafeh. Honor to be here with you again. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: It is nice to connect with you again after two years, approximately. I think we were in our infancy of our JCO PO podcast when we had you first time, and it has been an interesting journey since then. Dr. Shilpa Gupta: Absolutely. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Well, excited to talk to you about this article that you published. Wanted to first understand what is the genomic landscape of urothelial cancer in general, and why should we be interested in FGFR3 alterations specifically? Dr. Shilpa Gupta: Bladder cancer or urothelial cancer is a very heterogeneous cancer. And while we find there is a lot of mutations can be there, you know, like BRCA1, 2, in HER2, in FGFR, we never really understood what is driving the cancer. Like a lot of old studies with targeted therapies did not really work. For example, we think VEGF can be upregulated, but VEGF inhibitors have not really shown definite promise so far. Now, FGFR3 receptor is the only therapeutic target so far that has an FDA approved therapy for treating metastatic urothelial cancer patients, and erdafitinib was approved in 2019 for patients whose tumors overexpressed FGFR3 mutations, alterations, or fusions. And in the landscape of bladder cancer, it is important because in patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, about 70 to 80% patients can have this FGFR3. But as patients become metastatic, the alterations are seen in, you know, only about 10% of patients. So the clinical trials that got the erdafitinib approved actually used archival tumor from local cancer. So when in the real world, we don't see a lot of patients if we are trying to do metastatic lesion biopsies. And why it is important to know this is because that is the only targeted therapy available for our patients right now. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Thank you for giving us that overview. Now, on the clinical side, there is obviously some interesting data for FGFR3 on the mutation side and the fusion side. In your clinical practice, do you tend to approach these patients differently when you have a mutation versus when you have a fusion? Dr. Shilpa Gupta: We can use the treatment regardless of that. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: I recently remember I had a patient with lung cancer, squamous lung cancer, who also had a synchronous bladder mass. And the first thought from multiple colleagues was that this is metastatic lung. And interestingly, the liquid biopsy ended up showing an FGFR3-TACC fusion, which we generally don't see in squamous lung cancers. And then eventually, I was able to convince our GU colleagues, urologists, to get a biopsy. They did a transurethral resection of this tumor, ended up being primary urothelial and synchronous lung, which again, going back to the FGFR3 story, I saw in your paper there is a mention of FGFR3-TACC fusions. Anything interesting that you find with these fusions as far as biology or tumor behavior is concerned? Dr. Shilpa Gupta: We found in our paper of all the patients that were sequenced that 20% had the pathognomonic FGFR3 alteration, and the most common were the S249C, and the FGFR3-TACC3 fusion was in 45 patients. And basically I will say that we didn't want to generate too much as to fusion or the differences in that. The key aspect of this paper was that historically there were these anecdotal reports saying that patients who have FGFR alterations or mutations, they may not respond well to checkpoint inhibitors because they have the luminal subtype. And these were backed by some preclinical data and small anecdotal reports. But since then, we have seen that, and that's why a lot of people would say that if somebody's tumor has FGFR3, don't give them immunotherapy, give them erdafitinib first, right? So then we had this Phase 3 trial called the THOR trial, which actually showed that giving erdafitinib before pembrolizumab was not better. That debunked that myth, and we are actually reiterating that because in our work we found that patients who had FGFR3 alterations or fusions, and if they also have TMB-high, they actually respond very well to single agent immunotherapy. And that is, I think, very important because it tells us that we are not really seeing that so-called potential of resistance to immunotherapy in these patients. So to answer your question, yeah, we did see those differences, but I wouldn't say that any one marker is more prominent. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: The analogy is kind of similar to what we see in lung cancer with these mutations called STK11/KEAP1, which are also present in some other tumors. And one of the questions that I don't think has been answered is when you have in lung cancer, if you extrapolate this, where doublet or single agent immunotherapy doesn't do as well in tumors that are STK11 mutated. But then if you have a high TMB, question is does that TMB supersede or trump the actual mutation? Could that be one reason why you see the TMB-high but FGFR3 altered tumors in your dataset responding or having better outcomes to immunotherapy where potentially there is just more neoantigens and that results in a more durable or perhaps better response to checkpoint therapy? Dr. Shilpa Gupta: It could be. But you know, the patients who have FGFR alterations are not that many, right? So we have already seen that just patients with TMB-high respond very well to immunotherapy. Our last podcast was actually on that, regardless of PD-L1 that was a better predictor of response to immunotherapy. So I think it's not clear if this is adding more chances of response or not, because either way they would respond. But what we didn't see, which was good, that if they had FGFR3, it's not really downplaying the fact that they have TMB-high and that patients are not responding to immunotherapy. So we saw that regardless, and that was very reassuring. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: So if tomorrow in your clinic you had an individual with an FGFR3 alteration but TMB-high, I guess one could be comfortable just going ahead with immunotherapy, which is what the THOR trial as you mentioned. Dr. Shilpa Gupta: Yes, absolutely. And you know, when you look at the toxicity profiles of pembrolizumab and erdafitinib, really patients really struggle with using the FGFR3 inhibitors. And of course, if they have to use it, we have to, and we reserve it for patients. But it's not an easy drug to tolerate. Currently the landscape is such that, you know, frontline therapy has now evolved with an ADC and immunotherapy combinations. So really if patients progress and have FGFR3 alterations, we are using erdafitinib. But let's say if there were a situation where a patient has had chemotherapy, no immunotherapy, and they have FGFR3 upregulation and TMB-high, yes, I would be comfortable with using only pembrolizumab. And that really ties well together what we saw in the THOR trial as well. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Going to the clinical applications, you mentioned a little bit of this in the manuscript, is combination therapies. You alluded to it a second back. Everything tends to get combined with checkpoint therapy these days, as you've seen with the frontline urothelial, pembrolizumab with an ADC. What is the landscape like as far as some of these FGFR alterations are concerned? Is it reasonable to combine some of those drugs with immune checkpoint therapy? And what are some of the toxicity patterns that you've potentially seen in your experience? Dr. Shilpa Gupta: So there was indeed a trial called the NORSE trial. It was a randomized trial but not a comparative cohort, where they looked at FGFR altered patients. And when they combined erdafitinib plus cetrelimab, that did numerically the response rates were much higher than those who got just erdafitinib. So yeah, the combination is definitely doable. There is no overlapping toxicities. But unfortunately that combination has not really moved forward to a Phase 3 trial because it's so challenging to enroll patients with such kind of rare mutations on large trials, especially to do registration trials. And since then the frontline therapy has evolved to enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab. I know there is an early phase trial looking at a next generation FGFR inhibitor. There is a triplet combination looking in Phase 1 setting with a next generation FGFR inhibitor with EV-pembro. However, it's not a randomized trial. So you know, I worry about such kinds of combinations where we don't have a path for registration. And in the four patients that have been treated, four or five patients in the early phase as a part of basket trial, the toxicities were a lot, you know, when you combine the EV-pembro and an FGFR3 inhibitor, we see more and more toxicity. So the big question is do we really need the "kitchen sink" approach when we have a very good doublet, or unless the bar is so high with the doublet, like what are we trying to add at the expense of patient toxicity and quality of life is the big question in my mind. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Going back to your manuscript specifically, there could be a composite biomarker. You point out like FGFR in addition to FGFR TMB ends up being predictive prognostic there. So that could potentially be used as an approach to stratify patients as far as treatment, whether it's a single agent versus combination. Maybe the TMB-low/FGFR3 mutated require a combination, but the TMB-high/FGFR mutated don't require a combination, right? Dr. Shilpa Gupta: No, that's a great point, yeah. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: But again, very interesting, intriguing concepts that you've alluded to and described in this manuscript. Now, a quick take on how things have changed in the bladder cancer space in the last two years. We did a podcast with you regarding some biomarkers as you mentioned two years back. So I really would like to spend the next minute to two to understand how have things changed in the bladder cancer space? What are some of the exciting things that were not there two years back that are in practice now? And how do you anticipate the next two years to be like? Maybe we'll have another podcast with you in another two years when the space will have changed even more. Dr. Shilpa Gupta: Certainly a lot has happened in the two years, you know. EV-pembro became the universal frontline standard, right? We have really moved away from cisplatin eligibility in metastatic setting because anybody would benefit from EV-pembro regardless of whether they are candidates for cisplatin or not, which historically was relevant. And just two days ago, we saw that EV-pembro has now been approved for localized bladder cancer for patients who are cisplatin ineligible or refusing. So, you know, this very effective regimen moving into earlier setting, we now have to really think of good treatment options in the metastatic setting, right? So I think that's where a lot of these novel combinations may come up. And what else we've seen is in a tumor agnostic trial called the DESTINY-PanTumor trial, patients who had HER2 3+ on immunohistochemistry, we saw the drug approval for T-DXd, and I think that has kind of reinvigorated the interest in HER2 in bladder cancer, because in the past targeting HER2 really didn't work. And we still don't know if HER2 is a driver or not. And at ESMO this year, we saw an excellent study coming out of China with DV which is targeting HER2, and toripalimab, which is a Chinese checkpoint inhibitor, showing pretty much similar results to what we saw with EV-pembro. Now, you know, not to do cross-trial comparisons, but that was really an amazing, amazing study. It was in the presidential session. And I think the big question is: does that really tell us that HER2-low patients will not benefit? Because that included 1+, 2+, 3+. So that part we really don't know, and I think we want to study from the EV-302 how the HER2 positive patients did with EV and pembro. So that's an additional option, at least in China, and hopefully if it gets approved here, there is a trial going on with DV and pembro. And lastly, we've seen a very promising biomarker, like ctDNA, for the first time in bladder cancer in the adjuvant setting guiding treatment with adjuvant atezolizumab. So patients who were ctDNA positive derived overall survival and recurrence-free survival benefit. So that could help us select moving forward with more studies. We can spare unnecessary checkpoint inhibitors in patients who are not going to benefit. So I think there is a lot happening in our field, and this will help do more studies because we already have the next generation FGFR inhibitors which don't have the toxicities that erdafitinib comes with. And combining those with these novel ADCs and checkpoint inhibitors, you know, using maybe TMB as a biomarker, because we really need to move away from PD-L1 in bladder cancer. It's shown no utility whatsoever, but TMB has. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Well, thank you so much, Shilpa, for that tour de force of how things have changed in bladder cancer. There used to be a time when lung and melanoma used to lead this space in terms of the number of approvals, the biomarker development. It looks like bladder cancer is shifting the trend at this stage. So definitely exciting to see all the new changes that are coming up. I'd like to spend another minute and a half on your career. You've obviously been a leader and example for many people in the GU space and beyond. Could you, for the sake of our early career especially, the trainees and other listeners, describe how you focused on things that you're currently leading as a leader, and how you shaped your career trajectory over the last 10 years? Dr. Shilpa Gupta: That's a really important question, Rafeh, and you and I have had these discussions before, you know, being an IMG on visas like you, and being in different places. I think I try to make the most of it, you know, instead of focusing on the setbacks or the negative things. Like tried to grab the opportunities that came along. When I was at Moffitt, got to get involved with the Phase 1 trial of pembrolizumab in different tumor types. And just keeping my options open, you know, getting into the bladder cancer at that time when I wanted to really do only prostate, but it was a good idea for me to keep my options open and got all these opportunities that I made use of. I think an important thing is to, like you said, you know, have a focus. So I am trying to focus more on biomarkers that, you know, we know that 70% patients will respond to EV-pembro, right? But what about the remaining 30%? Like, so I'm really trying to understand what determines hyperprogressors with such effective regimens who we really struggle with in the clinic. They really don't do well with anything we give them after that. So we are doing some work with that and also trying to focus on PROs and kind of patient-reported outcomes. And a special interest that I've now developed and working on it is young-onset bladder cancer. You know, the colorectal cancer world has made a lot of progress and we are really far behind. And bladder cancer has historically been a disease of the elderly, which is not the case anymore. We are seeing patients in their 30s and 40s. So we launched this young-onset bladder cancer initiative at a Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network meeting and now looking at more deep dive and creating a working group around that. But yeah, you know, I would say that my philosophy has been to just take the best out of the situation I'm in, no matter where I am. And it has just helped shape my career where I am, despite everything. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Well, thank you again. It is always a pleasure to learn from your experiences and things that you have helped lead. Appreciate all your insights, and thank you for publishing with JCO PO. Hopefully we will see more of your biomarker work being published and perhaps bring you for another podcast in a couple of years. Dr. Shilpa Gupta: Yeah, thank you, Rafeh, for the opportunity. And thanks to JCO PO for making these podcasts for our readers. So thanks a lot. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Thank you for listening to JCO Precision Oncology Conversations. Don't forget to give us a rating or review and be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can find all ASCO shows at asco.org/podcast. The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement. DISCLOSURES Dr. Shilpa Gupta Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Company: BioNTech SE,  Nektar Consulting or Advisory Role: Company: Gilead Sciences, Pfizer, Merck, Foundation Medicine, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Medarex, Natera, Astellas Pharma, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson/Janssen Research Funding: Recipient: Your Institution Company: Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, Merck, Roche/Genentech, EMD Serono, Exelixis, Novartis, Tyra Biosciences, Pfizer, Convergent Therapeutics, Acrivon Therapeutics, Flare Therapeutics, Amgen Travel, Accommodations, Expenses: Company: Pfizer, Astellas Pharma, Merck    

Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP Guest: Matthew Galsky, MD Five years after treatment, the impact of adjuvant nivolumab still holds strong in high-risk muscle invasive urothelial carcinoma. Join Drs. Brian McDonough and Matthew Galsky as they review the CheckMate 274 trial's long-term data, which show sustained disease-free survival and highlight ctDNA's potential as a marker for residual disease. These findings reinforce nivolumab's role in the evolving standard of care and may support more personalized post-surgical strategies. Dr. Galsky is a Professor of Medicine and the Director of Genitourinary Medical Oncology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

Smriti Patodia, Senior Editor of The Lancet Oncology, is joined by Dr Andrea Necchi, Associate Professor at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, and the Director of Genitourinary Medical Oncology at the San Raffaele Hospital, in Milan, Italy, to discuss his SunRISe4-trial published in our October issue.Effective treatments are needed for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer scheduled for radical cystectomy who are ineligible for or decline to receive neoadjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy. SunRISe-4 is a randomised, open-label, phase 2 trial being conducted at 109 investigative centres in ten countries worldwide, and aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of neoadjuvant TAR-200 plus cetrelimab (anti-PD-1) versus cetrelimab monotherapy in this disease setting.They discuss the unique features of the TAR-200 localised sustained delivery system for gemcitabine, the key findings from the SunRISe4-trial trial, and what the future implications of the findings are in terms of better treatment options for patients with bladder cancer.Read the full article:https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(25)00358-4/abstract?dgcid=buzzsprout_icw_podcast_September_25_lanoncTell us what you thought about this episodeContinue this conversation on social!Follow us today at...https://thelancet.bsky.social/https://instagram.com/thelancetgrouphttps://facebook.com/thelancetmedicaljournalhttps://linkedIn.com/company/the-lancethttps://youtube.com/thelancettv

At the 2025 Kidney Cancer Research Summit hosted by KidneyCAN, CancerNetwork® spoke with a variety of leading experts about key developments in the research and management of kidney cancer. Throughout the meeting, presenters shared their findings related to updated clinical trial results, personalized cancer vaccines, potential biomarkers of interest, and other advancements in the field. Thomas Powles, MBBS, MCRP, MD, discussed outcomes from a quality-adjusted survival time without symptoms or toxicity (Q-TWiST) analysis of the phase 3 LITESPARK-005 trial (NCT04195750), in which investigators evaluated treatment with belzutifan (Welireg) vs everolimus (Afinitor) among patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Powles, a professor of genitourinary oncology, lead for Solid Tumor Research, and director of Barts Cancer Institute at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, Queen Mary University of London, stated that these data demonstrate how belzutifan is more active and better tolerated than everolimus in this patient population. David A. Braun, MD, PhD, assistant professor at Yale School of Medicine and member of the Center of Molecular and Cellular Oncology within the Yale Cancer Center, detailed his presentation on a personalized neoantigen cancer vaccine as a treatment for those with RCC. Based on his presentation, Braun highlighted how neoantigen vaccines may effectively yield T-cell responses in patients, illustrating a need for additional, larger studies to elucidate the clinical activity of this modality in an adjuvant setting. Additionally, Wenxin (Vincent) Xu, MD, a medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, spoke about his presentation on how kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) may serve as a prognostic biomarker of response to therapy in patients with RCC. His research posed questions on how KIM-1 can inform the use of adjuvant therapy or specific therapeutic combinations like nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) for this patient population. Eric Jonasch, MD, gave an overview of his presentation focused on the Kidney Cancer Research Consortium, a research partnership spanning 7 institutions dedicated to facilitating mechanistic, hypothesis-testing clinical trials in RCC. Jonasch, a professor in the Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology of the Division of Cancer Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, described how this collaboration aims to link identifiable biological characteristics of RCC subtypes to specific treatment strategies while developing predictive biomarkers. KidneyCAN is a nonprofit organization with a mission to accelerate cures for kidney cancer through education, advocacy, and research funding. You can learn more about KidneyCAN's work here: https://kidneycan.org/ References 1. Powles T, de Velasco G, Choueiri TK, et al. Quality-adjusted time without symptoms or toxicity (Q-TWiST) analysis of belzutifan versus everolimus in previously treated advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC): LITESPARK-005 (LS-005). Presented at the 2025 Kidney Cancer Research Summit; July 17-18, 2025; Boston, MA. Abstract 13. 2. Braun DA. Personalized vaccines in kidney cancer: a journey from concept to clinic. Presented at the 2025 Kidney Cancer Research Summit; July 17-18, 2025; Boston, MA. 3. Xu W. From bench to bedside: advancing KIM-1 as a tool for clinical decision-making. Presented at the 2025 Kidney Cancer Research Summit; July 17-18, 2025; Boston, MA. 4. Jonasch E. Building the infrastructure for discovery: a clinical trial consortium to accelerate kidney cancer research. Presented at the 2025 Kidney Cancer Research Summit; July 17-18, 2025; Boston, MA.

In today's episode, we spoke with Matthew Galsky, MD, about the FDA approval of neoadjuvant durvalumab (Imfinzi) plus gemcitabine and cisplatin followed by adjuvant durvalumab monotherapy after radical cystectomy for the treatment of adult patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). Dr Galsky is a professor of medicine (hematology and medical oncology), a professor of urology, director of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, co-director of the Center of Excellence for Bladder Cancer, and director for Translational Research at The Tisch Cancer Institute in New York, New York. In our exclusive interview, Dr Galsky discussed the significance of this approval, key efficacy and safety data from the pivotal phase 3 NIAGARA trial (NCT03732677), and the role of this regimen in the MIBC treatment paradigm, including for cisplatin-eligible patients with mild renal impairment.

In collaboration with KidneyCAN, CancerNetwork® spoke with Eric Jonasch, MD, a professor in the Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology of the Division of Cancer Medicine, and the director of the von Hippel Lindau Center at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, about the missions and goals of the Kidney Cancer Research Consortium. Jonasch is the principal investigator of an effort, supported by a Department of Defense (DoD)–funded grant, that aims to improve the treatment of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) by developing a network of clinical trial centers that have expertise in both developing and executing new research efforts.  “We want to do the clinical trials that the industry wouldn't do otherwise and do the trials that are going to allow us to gain knowledge faster,” Jonasch said. “We do this by, number one, using novel agents; number 2, using more efficient and innovative clinical trial designs; and, number 3, incorporating correlative studies, including biopsies and various other circulating biomarkers analyses that allow us to get smarter faster.” Many of the ongoing and recently completed trials in the kidney cancer space focused heavily on immune therapy, utilizing checkpoint-blocking antibodies like nivolumab (Opdivo) and pembrolizumab (Keytruda) or CTLA-4–blocking agents like ipilimumab (Yervoy). Of the studies moving the space forward, Jonasch highlighted an ongoing phase 1b/2 trial (NCT05501054) evaluating ipilimumab, nivolumab, and ciforadenant (CPI-444), an A2A inhibitor, in RCC along with other trials. During the discussion, Jonasch mentioned the initiative to incorporate biopsies in treatment more frequently, particularly through giving a pre- and post-biopsy to see how the results change during therapy. This approach gives investigators an opportunity to see how cancer cells interact with immune cells.  Additionally, Jonasch stated that they wish to expand their efforts to the broader kidney cancer community, as currently, work in the consortium only takes place in 7 “ivory tower” institutions that may be difficult to access for some patients. One of the ways they're combatting this barrier is through working with the Veterans Affairs hospital system. Once that effort is complete, Jonasch hopes the consortium will be able to start helping more patient groups.  KidneyCAN is a nonprofit organization with a mission to accelerate cures for kidney cancer through education, advocacy, and research funding. You can learn more about KidneyCAN's work here: https://kidneycan.org/ Reference Beckermann K, Rini B, Haas N, George D, Jonasch E. Phase 1b/2 trial of ipilimumab, nivolumab, and ciforadenant (INC) (adenosine A2a receptor antagonist) in first-line advanced renal cell carcinoma. Oncologist. 2023;28(suppl 1):S13–4. doi:10.1093/oncolo/oyad216.022.

Belzutifan was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in previously treated adults with advanced renal cell carcinoma. How should this drug best be incorporated into practice? Eric Jonasch, MD, professor in the Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles, discuss how the medication might be used in clinic. Dr. Jonasch also provides insight into the LITESPARK-005 study, which led to the FDA approval, as well as other ongoing trials that may further change the landscape of kidney cancer care.

In this podcast, UROONCO BCa chief editor Dr. Benjamin Pradere (FR) talks to Dr. Arlene O. Siefker-Radtke (US) from the Depart. of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. She answers questions about the recent ASCO23 presentations on metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC), where new results of the phase II Norse study, and the phase III THOR study were shared.Phase II Norse study:Dr. Siefker-Radtke elaborates on the study rational and pleasing results of the phase II Norse study: Erdafitinib (erda) vs erda plus cetrelimab (erda+CET) for patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) and fibroblast growth factor receptor alterations (FGFRa). Single agent erdafitinib had an objective response rate of around 45%. The combination of erdafitinib and cetrelimab had an objective response rate of around 55%.  Single agent erdafitinib had a progression-free survival (PFS) of around 5.5 months, and the combination arm had a median survival of around 11 months. The median overall survival with erdafitinib alone was around 16 months, whereas the combination had a median overall survival of around 20.8 months.Phase III THOR study: Dr. Siefker discusses the phase III results whereby erda significantly improved overall and PFS, as well as overall response rate, compared with chemotherapy, in patients with advanced or mUC and FGFR alteration who already had been treated with a PD-(L)1 inhibitor. For more details on these studies, you can read the abstracts on the UROONCO educational platform - phase II Norse, phase III THOR.

Dr. Quinn is currently the Medical Director of the Norris Cancer Hospital, the Head of Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Oncology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. He is a medical oncologist and an international expert in the field of clinical trials and molecular correlative studies in genitourinary cancer and early therapeutics.

Host Rick Bangs interviews Dr. Elizabeth Plimack of Fox Chase Cancer Center, where she is the Chief, Division of Genitourinary Medical Oncology.  Dr. Plimack is also the Chair of the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network's (BCAN's) Scientific Advisory Board. Rick and Dr. Plimack talk about: The importance of supporting bladder cancer research The role of BCAN's Scientific Advisory Board What the Bladder Cancer Think Tank is Resources that BCAN has for bladder cancer patients, caregivers, researchers and doctors. Today's episode is sponored by Merck and we are grateful for their support.

The treatment paradigm for metastatic urothelial carcinoma has shifted significantly over the last decade with immunotherapy and precision medicine.   In this episode of the “CURE Talks Cancer” podcast, we spoke with Dr. Elizabeth Plimack, chief of the Division of Genitourinary Medical Oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health, and Dr. Sumanta (Monty) Pal, from City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, about metastatic urothelial.    The experts discussed the treatment landscape for this disease, how patients can learn more about their options and what they have to look forward to on the horizon.

In this ANZUP conference highlight, Andrew Weickhardt chats with Betsy Plimack, Chief of the Division of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Centre in the US. She talks about the future potential role of genetic mutations in urothelial cancer: can they predict response to treatments or even decide which treatments you should use? They also discuss the use of the new immuno-oncology agents in metastatic kidney cancer: what are the second line options, and how do we measure success of treatments- keep a close ear out for the emerging concept of treatment free survival as the yard stick for the immune-oncology agents.

Welcome to Prostate Cancer & You, a series of podcasts sponsored by the Massachusetts Prostate Cancer Coalition. Today’s podcast features an interview with Glenn Bubley, MD, director of the Division of Genitourinary Medical Oncology at the Beth Israel Medical Center  and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is the 2009 recipient of the Jack Colbert Memorial Award. On this podcast he discusses the good news about new treatments for metastatic and non-metastatic prostate cancer. Important clinical trials have been performed that have shown that earlier treatment of metastatic disease with combinations of existing agents have provided a major improvement in overall and cancer specific survival. This includes combinations of hormonal agents like Lupron with Abiraterone or Lupron with the chemotherapeutic agent Docetaxel. At the May 10 Prostate Cancer Symposium his session is “Newer Therapeutic Strategies for Advanced Prostate Cancer.” Go here for more information and to register.

The Prostate Cancer Moon Shot at MD Anderson Cancer Center focuses on: reducing overtreatment; combining therapies used in more advanced cases to treat the disease earlier; and developing new, targeted therapies (including immunotherapy) for patients who see little to no benefit from traditional treatment methods. Timothy Thompson, Ph.D., professor in Genitourinary Medical Oncology, discusses the Prostate Cancer Moon Shot progress over the last year.

Cancer immunotherapy treats the immune system rather than the tumor. Jim Allison, Ph.D., professor in Immunology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, has developed an innovative approach that will open doors for treating all types of cancer. Padmanee Sharma, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor in Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Immunology, is lead scientist on immunotherapy clinical trials. Listen to Allison and Sharma discuss their collaboration on MD Anderson’s Moon Shots Program to develop therapies that unleash patient’s immune systems to attack their cancers.

Cynthia Abarado, DNP, MSN, RN, GNP-BC, Advanced Practice Nurse, Genitourinary Medical Oncology

Cynthia Abarado, DNP, MSN, RN, GNP-BC, Advanced Practice Nurse, Genitourinary Medical Oncology

Cynthia Abarado, DNP, MSN, RN, GNP-BC, Advanced Practice Nurse, Genitourinary Medical Oncology

Cynthia Abarado, DNP, MSN, RN, GNP-BC, Advanced Practice Nurse, Genitourinary Medical Oncology

Christopher Logothetis, M.D., chair and professor, Genitourinary Medical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, details progress made in the first year of the Prostate Cancer Moon Shot.

Christopher Logothetis, M.D., chair and professor, Genitourinary Medical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, details progress made in the first year of the Prostate Cancer Moon Shot.

Penile cancer is rare with less than 2,000 men being diagnosed in the US each year and around 26,000 worldwide. If caught early, penile cancer is curable but men tend to ignore symptoms until the disease has advanced. Lance Pagliaro, M.D., professor in Genitourinary Medical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the basics, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of penile cancer.

Testicular cancer is the most common malignant cancer in males between the ages of 15 and 34, but it could strike at any age. Symptoms are not always obvious and self-examination is not a recommended way to screen for testicular cancer. Lance Pagliaro, M.D., professor in Genitourinary Medical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the basics, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of testicular cancer.

Of the 50,000 people in the United States who are diagnosed with kidney cancer each year, 90% have renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Standard cancer treatment such as chemotherapy and radiation generally are ineffective when treating kidney tumors. MD Anderson Cancer Center is conducting new research to determine the best drug sequence for fighting this disease. Nizar Tannir, M.D., associate professor in the Genitourinary Medical Oncology department, discusses his kidney cancer clinical trial, Sequential Two-agent Assessment in Renal Cell Carcinoma Therapy (the START trial), as well as provides facts about the disease.