Podcasts about medical oncology

Clinical investigators discuss available data guiding the management of pancreatic cancer.  CME information and select publications here.

Clinical investigators discuss available data guiding the management of pancreatic cancer.  CME information and select publications here.

This featured podcast includes a discussion with 3 experts on managing patients with hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative (HR+/HER2–) metastatic breast cancer (mBC) from a satellite symposium held in conjunction with the 42nd Annual Miami Breast Cancer Conference® in March 2025. In observational studies of treatment patterns in older women with mBC, approximately half of the patients were undertreated, and only half received a CDK4/6 inhibitor (CDK4/6i)-based regimen in the first-line setting. Reasons for undertreatment include concerns about the patient's age, perceived frailty, and underlying health issues. Aging is a heterogeneous process; older patients must receive individualized treatment that is not based solely on their age but on a comprehensive assessment that objectively assesses their overall health and ability to tolerate treatment. This program is designed to help clinicians assess the fitness of older patients with HR+/HER2– mBC, review the efficacy and safety of CDK4/6i in this patient population, and individualize treatment decision-making appropriately. Acknowledgment of Educational Grant Support This activity is supported by an educational grant from Pfizer Inc. Today's faculty are: Hope S. Rugo, MD Director, Women's Cancers Program Division Chief, Breast Medical Oncology Professor, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center Duarte, CA Professor Emeritus, UCSF Disclosures: Grant/Research Support: Ambrx; AstraZeneca; Daiichi Sankyo, Inc; F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG/Genentech, Inc; Gilead Sciences, Inc; Lilly; Merck & Co., Inc; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; OBI Pharma; Pfizer; Stemline Therapeutics. Consultant: Napo Therapeutics; Puma Biotechnology; Sanofi. Honoraria: Chugai; Mylan/Viatris. Neil M. Iyengar, MD Associate Attending, Breast Medicine Service Program Lead, MSK Healthy Living Department of Medicine Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Associate Professor of Medicine Weill Cornell Medical College New York, NY Disclosures: Consultant/Adviser: Arvinas, AstraZeneca, BD Life Sciences, Daiichi Sankyo, Genentech/Roche, Gilead, Menarini-Stemline, Novartis, Pfizer, Puma, Seagen, TerSera Therapeutics. Speaker: Cardinal Health, Curio Sciences, DAVA Oncology, IntrinsiQ Health. Editorial Position: npj Breast Cancer, Oncology®. Equity/Ownership: Complement Theory, Bettering Company. Research Support (to institution): American Cancer Society, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Conquer Cancer Foundation, Kat's Ribbon of Hope, National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health. Contracted Research: Novartis, SynDevRx. Komal Jhaveri, MD, FACP Patricia and James Cayne Chair for Junior Faculty Associate Attending Physician, Breast Medicine Service and Early Drug Development Service Section Head, Endocrine Therapy Research Program Clinical Director, Early Drug Development Service Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine Weill Cornell Medical College New York, NY Disclosures: Consultant/Advisory Board: AbbVie Inc, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, Blueprint Medicines, Bristol Myers Squibb, Daiichi Sankyo Inc, Eisai Inc, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, Gilead Sciences Inc, Jounce Therapeutics, Loxo Oncology Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly & Company, Menarini Group, Novartis, Olema Oncology, Pfizer Inc, Scorpion Therapeutics, Seagen Inc, Stemline Therapeutics Inc, Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company Ltd, Taiho Oncology Inc. Research Funding: AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, Debiopharm, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, Gilead Sciences Inc, Loxo Oncology Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly & Company, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer Inc, Puma Biotechnology Inc, Scorpion Therapeutics, Zymeworks Inc. The staff of Physicians' Education Resource®, LLC, have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies. PER® mitigated all COI for faculty, staff, and planners prior to the start of this activity by using a multistep process. Off-Label Disclosure and Disclaimer This activity may or may not discuss investigational, unapproved, or off-label use of drugs. Learners are advised to consult prescribing information for any products discussed. The information provided in this accredited activity is for continuing education purposes only and is not meant to substitute for the independent clinical judgment of a health care professional relative to diagnostic, treatment, or management options for a specific patient's medical condition. The opinions expressed in the content are solely those of the individual faculty members and do not reflect those of PER® or any company that provided commercial support for this activity.

Fahad Faruqi, MD, Doctor of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Northwestern Medicine, joins Lisa Dent to discuss former President Biden’s prostate cancer diagnosis. Dr. Faruqi discusses the difference between ‘terminal’ and ‘incurable’ and what it means for Biden’s health.

Featuring perspectives from Dr Ramaswamy Govindan and Dr Stephen V Liu, including the following topics: Introduction (0:00) Management of Nonmetastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) without a Targetable Mutation — Dr Govindan (4:04) First- and Later-Line Therapy for Metastatic NSCLC without a Targetable Mutation — Dr Liu (26:59) CME information and select publications

Clinical investigators discuss available data guiding the management of non-small cell lung cancer with immunotherapy and other nontargeted approaches.  CME information and select publications here.

Featuring perspectives from Dr Christopher Lieu and Dr Kanwal Raghav, including the following topics: Optimizing the Care of Patients with Nonmetastatic Colorectal Cancer (CRC) — Dr Lieu (0:00) Recent Advances in the Management of Metastatic CRC — Dr Raghav (32:58) CME information and select publications

Clinical investigators discuss available data guiding the management of colorectal cancer.  CME information and select publications here.

Clinical investigators discuss available data guiding the management of colorectal cancer.  CME information and select publications here.

Send us a textDr. Samir Khleif, MD is CEO of Georgiamune ( https://www.georgiamune.com/team ), a private, science and discovery clinical stage immunotherapeutic biotechnology company focused on reprogramming immune signaling pathways to redirect the immune system to fight diseases.  Dr. Khleif is a pioneer in the field of immunotherapy. He is a medical oncologist, immunologist, innovator, and entrepreneur, as well as a transformational executive in health care and biomedical research.Prior to becoming CEO of Georgiamune, Dr. Khleif served in different academic and leadership positions. He was a National Cancer Institute (NCI)/National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientist and Chief of the NCI Cancer Vaccine Section, where he led the development of pioneering immune-oncology and cancer vaccines into clinical trials. As a national and international academic leader, and detailed by the US government, he served as the founding director and CEO of the King Hussein Cancer Center ( https://www.khcc.jo/en ) in Amman, Jordan, where he led the development of the largest cancer center in the MENA region. He also served as the director of the Georgia Cancer Center, the state cancer center, at Augusta University. He is currently a biomedical scholar and holds a professorship at Georgetown University Medical School.Dr. Khleif also served as a Special Assistant to the Commissioner of the FDA, leading the FDA's Critical Path Initiative for Oncology. He is a member of the board of directors of Ayala Pharmaceuticals and Emerald Biopharmaceutics, and served as a member of the scientific advisory board of more than 20 biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.Dr. Khleif is an international KOL in immunology and immunotherapy. He has served on many national committees, including the Scientific Advisory Board of the Biden Cancer Initiative, as chair of the Immunotherapy Committee for NRG, and as a member of the NCI Cooperative Group. He currently serves as an advisor for the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. Dr. Khleif is an editor of three books, the author of hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific research articles, and a prolific inventor with more than 150 patents issued or pending in the field of immunology and immunotherapy.Dr. Khleif received his medical degree at the University of Jordan, Amman Jordan. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the Medical College of Ohio and his fellowship in Medical Oncology at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, Maryland.#SamirKhleif #Georgiamune #Immunotherapy #KingHusseinCancerCenter #CriticalPathInitiative #FDA #Tregs #RegulatoryTCells #Cancer #Oncology #CheckpointInhibitors #ImmuneEscapeMechanisms #DualFunctioningAntibody #Autoimmune #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Featuring perspectives from Dr Christopher Flower and Dr Krish Patel, including the following topics: Role of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy and Bispecific Antibodies for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) — Dr Patel (0:00) Other Available and Emerging Novel Therapies for NHL — Dr Flowers (22:07) CME information and select publications

Clinical investigators discuss available data guiding the management of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.  CME information and select publications here.

On this Mother's dray, we honor the heart of every mother — the love she gives, the sacrifices she makes, and the quiet strength she carries every single day. But today, we also pause to ask: how can mothers take care of themselves? How can faith and medicine guide them to nurture not just others, but their own beautiful, essential selves? Whether you are a mother, lost a mother, hope to be one, or are simply someone who has been touched by the love of a mother, this episode is for you. Together, let's explore what it means to mother others — and to mother ourselves — through the lens of both faith and wellness.Please join my two special guests on the podcast:Dr. Shabana Dewani  is board certified in Medical Oncology, Hematology, and Internal Medicine—and a joy to listen to!  You'll be able to hear her passion for how takes care of herself and advocates for other mothers. Pastor Jennifer Jackson offers faith perspective and self care for women. She provides us her learnings as she went through her own breast cancer diagnosis.  She strives to help women through life, whether it's a book, her own radio show, or by mentoring them.  You'll be uplifted by our discussion with Jennifer she talks about what faith says about women taking care of themselves.Learn More About Jennifer Jackson here.InstagramFacebookIf you want to buy my book, click the link below.Their Legacy, Their Light She Carries: A Breast Surgeon's Mission to Serve and Inspire HopeStay Connected with Dr. Deepa Halaharvi:TikTok: @breastdoctorInstagram: @drdhalaharviTBCP Instagram: @thebreastcancerpodcastWebsite: https://drdeepahalaharvi.com/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@deepahalaharvi5917Instagram: @thebreastcancerpodcast

Featuring perspectives from Dr David M O'Malley and Dr Brian M Slomovitz, including the following topics: Ovarian Cancer; HER2-Directed Therapy for Advanced Gynecologic Cancers — Dr O'Malley (0:00) Endometrial Cancer and Cervical Cancer — Dr Slomovitz (23:38) CME information and select publications

Clinical investigators discuss available data guiding the management of gynecologic cancers.  CME information and select publications here.

Send us a textIn today's episode we have the pleasure of speaking to Dr. Anna Levy, D.O.   Dr. Levy is an oncologist who works in the very specialized area of liver related cancers.  Dr. Levy is Medical Director of Hepatobiliary Malignancies and the Hepatic Artery Pump Infusion Program, based at the R.J. Zuckerberg Cancer Center.   Dr Levy is  is Board certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology.  She is  Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell Health Medical School.  Dr. Levy earned her medical degree at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine followed by an Internal Medicine Residency at the Christiana Care Health System and ultimately completed her fellowship in Medical Oncology and Hematology at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center.Dr. Levy will delve into the life of an oncologist and the difficulties treating very sick patients.  She will discuss the difficulties of work life balance and how her family and home life allow her to “keep her cup full."  Dr. Levy will discuss the problem of suicide, among physicians specifically among high stress professions such as Hematology/ Oncology.  Dr. Levy will share her journey which started as an emigre from the Ukraine.  She will tell us about her discovery of Osteopathic Medicine and how she developed a  love for oncology, a difficult and complex specialty.  Please join us in our discussion with this  remarkable physician. . . a discussion you won't want to miss!

In today's episode, supported by Replimune, we had the pleasure of speaking with Anna C. Pavlick, BSN, MSc, DO, MBA, about the use of RP1 plus nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of patients with advanced melanoma. Dr Pavlick is a professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology & Medical Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, New York; as well as the founding director of the Cutaneous Oncology Program at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. In our exclusive interview, Dr Pavlick discussed the rationale for investigating this combination in patients with advanced melanoma who have received prior immune checkpoint inhibition, key efficacy and safety findings from the phase 1/2 IGNYTE trial (NCT03767348), and where the future may be headed regarding the use of oncolytic viruses in melanoma.

Clinical investigators discuss available data guiding the management of EGFR mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer.  CME information and select publications here.

Featuring perspectives from Dr Rahul Aggarwal and Dr William K Oh, including the following topics: Hormonal Therapy for Patients with Prostate Cancer — Dr Oh (0:00) Other Available and Emerging Therapeutic Approaches — Dr Aggarwal (27:14) CME information and select publications

Clinical investigators discuss available data guiding the management of prostate cancers. CME information and select publications here.

Are you a physician overwhelmed by late-night charting? Dr. Mary Leung, board-certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hematology — and now a certified life coach — knows your struggle firsthand.Dr. Mary completed her medical education at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine. She went on to complete her residency in Internal Medicine and her fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Her solid clinical background, combined with her experience as a certified life coach, gives her a unique and compassionate perspective on physician burnout and well-being.In this empowering livestream, discover how Dr. Mary went from burnout and after-hours charting to confidently finishing her clinical day on time. Learn the exact tools and mindset shifts that transformed her routine and helped her rediscover joy in medicine.✅ Why charting was draining her energy✅ How coaching transformed her time and mindset✅ How she helps physicians regain control, clarity, and time✅ Steps to build a meaningful, sustainable medical careerDr. Mary founded Shining With Gratitude MD to guide physicians through their unique journeys. Her mission: help doctors feel better, live fuller lives, and fall in love with medicine again.Connect with Dr. MaryLinkedIn Mary Leung, MDFacebook Mary LeungWebsite https://www.shiningwithgratitudemd.com

Featuring perspectives from Dr Mitesh J Borad and Dr Amit Mahipal, including the following topics: Introduction (0:00) Targeted Therapeutic Approaches for Patients with Biliary Tract Cancers (BTCs) — Dr Mahipal (4:59) Integration of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors into Current BTC Management — Dr Borad (32:16) CME information and select publications

Clinical investigators discuss available data guiding the management of biliary tract cancers.  CME information and select publications here.

Clinical investigators discuss available data guiding the management of biliary tract cancers.  CME information and select publications here.

Clinical investigators discuss available data guiding the management of biliary tract cancers.  CME information and select publications here.

Clinical investigators discuss available data guiding the management of HER2-positive, triple-negative and localized breast cancer.  CME information and select publications here.

Featuring perspectives from Dr Jonathan Goldman and Dr Natasha B Leighl, including the following topics: Introduction (0:00) Current Management of Nonmetastatic and Metastatic EGFR Mutation-Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) — Prof Leighl (1:42) Promising Novel Agents in Clinical Development; EGFR Exon 20 Mutation-Positive NSCLC — Dr Goldman (37:25) CME information and select publications

Featuring perspectives from Dr Aditya Bardia, Dr Virginia F Borges, Dr Harold J Burstein and Dr Joyce O'Shaughnessy, including the following topics: Introduction (0:00) HER2-Positive Breast Cancer — Dr O'Shaughnessy (3:13) Triple-Negative Breast Cancer — Dr Bardia (32:56) Personalizing Adjuvant Therapy for Patients with HR-Positive Breast Cancer — Dr Borges (57:35) Current Role of CDK4/6 Inhibitors in the Localized Setting — Dr Burstein (1:25:15) CME information and select publications

The premise behind the Carnivore Diet is to eat to our biological design: exposing ourselves to the beneficial and essential nutrients, and removing the harmful exposures.  However there are more essential and beneficial exposures beyond just meat, and there are harmful exposures besides plant toxins.  This episode takes a closer look beyond the best ditary exposures to what are some of the best overall exposures for your health as well.  Enjoy! Dr. Petra Davelaar is a naturopathic doctor specializing in Deutenomic medicine—a field that explores the role of deuterium (a heavy isotope of hydrogen) in human health. Her work focuses on how deuterium levels affect cellular processes, particularly mitochondrial function, and how reducing deuterium accumulation may support disease prevention and recovery. ​ Born and raised in the Netherlands, Dr. Davelaar moved to New York in her 20s. She earned her Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine degree from Bastyr University in California in 2016. After practicing in Santa Monica for several years, she now offers consultations via telemedicine. Since January 2021, her credentials have been recognized in Hungary and most other European countries. ​ Dr. Davelaar is also certified in functional medicine and nutrition. She has served as a peer reviewer for scientific journals such as Scientific Reports and Medical Oncology. ​ In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Davelaar has contributed to public education through lectures and podcasts, discussing topics like deuterium depletion, over-hydration, and their implications for health and disease. ​ For more information about her work or to schedule a consultation, you can visit her official website at drpetrad.com  

Featuring perspectives from Dr Rashmi Chugh and Dr Richard F Riedel, including the following topics: Other Connective Tissue Neoplasms — Dr Chugh (0:00) Sarcoma — Dr Riedel (28:16) CME information and select publications

Featuring perspectives from Dr Aditya Bardia, Dr Virginia F Borges, Dr Harold J Burstein and Dr Joyce O'Shaughnessy, including the following topics: Introduction (0:00) CDK4/6 Inhibitors for HR-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer (mBC) — Dr Borges (9:56) Targeting the PTEN/PI3K/AKT Pathway in HR-Positive mBC — Dr Burstein (35:20) Role of Oral Selective Estrogen Receptor Degraders in the Management of HR-Positive mBC — Dr O'Shaughnessy (1:03:07) Antibody-Drug Conjugates for HR-Positive mBC — Dr Bardia (1:36:12) CME information and select publications

Clinical investigators discuss available data guiding the management of hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer. CME information and select publications here.

Featuring perspectives from Dr Nicole Lamanna and Dr Kerry Rogers, including the following topics: Introduction (0:00) Current Role of Covalent Bruton Tyrosine Kinase and Bcl-2 Inhibitors in Managing Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia — Dr Lamanna (10:55) Novel Agents and Combination Strategies — Dr Rogers (31:21) CME information and select publications

Clinical investigators discuss available data guiding the management of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.  CME information and select publications here.

Featuring perspectives from Dr Simron Singh and Dr Jonathan Strosberg, including the following topics: Introduction (0:00) Initial Therapy for Advanced Neuroendocrine Tumors (NETs) — Dr Singh (6:48) Management of Progressive Advanced NETs — Dr Strosberg (28:50) CME information and select publications

Clinical investigators discuss available data guiding the management of neuroendocrine tumors.  CME information and select publications here.

Clinical investigators discuss available data guiding the management of neuroendocrine tumors.  CME information and select publications here.

Clinical investigators discuss available data guiding the management of neuroendocrine tumors.  CME information and select publications here.

Klinisch Relevant ist Dein Wissenspartner für das Gesundheitswesen. Drei mal pro Woche, nämlich dienstags, donnerstags und samstags, versorgen wir Dich mit unserem Podcast und liefern Dir Fachwissen für Deine klinische Praxis. Weitere Infos findest Du unter https://klinisch-relevant.de

Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, Chairman of the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Cleveland Clinic Cancer Institute, discusses the continued recruitment of doctors and the strong support of team members as the clinic expands. He highlights progress in clinical and research efforts, along with strategies to support the team amid an influx of patients and the evolving impact of AI in healthcare.

50 Years of Cancer Progress: Medical Oncology with guest Dr. Roy Herbst March 16, 2025 Yale Cancer Center visit: https://www.yalecancercenter.org email: canceranswers@yale.edu call: 203-785-4095

Dr. Shannon Westin and her guest, Dr. Breelyn Wilky, discuss the JCO article, "“Botensilimab (Fc-enhanced anti-cytotoxic lymphocyte-association protein-4 antibody) Plus Balstilimab (anti-PD-1 antibody) in Patients With Relapsed/Refractory Metastatic Sarcomas." TRANSCRIPT  Shannon Westin: Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of JCO After Hours, the podcast where we get in depth on research that has been published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. I am your host, Gynecologic Oncologist and Social Media Consultant Editor of the JCO, Shannon Westin. I serve here from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. And I am so excited to welcome Dr. Breelyn Wilky. She's an Associate Professor and the Director of Sarcoma Medical Oncology in the Department of Medicine Division of Medical Oncology, and the Cheryl Bennett & McNeilly family endowed chair in Sarcoma Research, the Deputy Associate Director of Clinical research at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. Welcome. Dr. Breelyn Wilky: Thank you so much. I'm delighted to be here. Shannon Westin: And with all those titles, I'm super impressed that she was able to complete the manuscript that we're going to discuss today, which is “Botensilimab (Fc-enhanced anti-cytotoxic lymphocyte-association protein-4 antibody) Plus Balstilimab (anti-PD-1 antibody) in Patients With Relapsed/Refractory Metastatic Sarcomas.” And this was published in the JCO on January 27, 2025. And please note, our participants do not have any conflicts of interest. So this is exciting. Let's first level set. Can you review with us just the current state of sarcoma incidents, survival outcomes, that kind of thing so we all know where we're starting? Dr. Breelyn Wilky: Yes. So, you know, sarcomas are really, I like to call them the black box cancer type. And the big thing is that there's really more than a hundred different kinds of sarcomas, which collectively altogether make up only 1% of adult cancers. And so we talk about these as being bone and soft tissue tumors, but really, the heterogeneity is just incredible. You're talking maybe 10,000 to 12,000 new cases of soft tissue sarcoma per year, which is pretty rare in the grand scheme of things. And the trouble with these is that while you can cure sarcomas if you find them early and they're localized, when they metastasize and spread and are not resectable, we're looking at median overall survivals of really only 12 to 18 months, even, you know, with our best therapies that we have. So, really there's just a dire need for new treatments for this really tough group of diseases. Shannon Westin: Yeah, I agree. I'm a gynecologic oncologist, and we have our little subset of sarcomas that I know there's a little bit out of every one. So I'm really excited to pull this manuscript as one of our podcasts offerings because I think we're all seeing these patients in the clinic and certainly our listeners that have sarcoma or have family members with sarcoma, this is so good to have a real focus on a rare group of tumors that have been a little bit lumped together. Now, with that being said, I know this is such a heterogeneous population, but can you briefly overview a little bit around the standard of care for treatment of recurrent sarcomas? Dr. Breelyn Wilky: We have actually been using the same drugs really since about the 1970s, and up until very recently, nothing had really challenged doxorubicin, the old ‘red devil', like we used to call it. And this has been the mainstay of treatment for metastatic sarcomas and really used across the board. In the GYN literature, for uterine leiomyosarcoma, we did see some promising activity with the combination of doxorubicin and trabectedin coming out of the French group. But, except for that study, no combination therapy or new drug has been proven better in terms of overall survival compared to doxorubicin monotherapy, really over 40, 50 years. So it's definitely a tough situation. Now, we do have other drugs that we use, so most patients will wind up getting doxorubicin-based therapy. There's a couple of other regimens that we'll reach to, like gemcitabine docetaxel. And once you get into the specific subtypes, we have some approvals in liposarcomas and leiomyosarcomas for some other drugs. But really the median progression for survival for most of these regimens is somewhere four to six months. And response rates typically are somewhere like 10%, 15% for most of these. So it's really just a very tough field and a tough group of patients to try to make an impact for. Shannon Westin: So let's talk a little bit more kind of getting focused on what you've studied here. What's been the role of immunotherapy thus far in the treatment of sarcomas maybe prior to this particular study? Dr. Breelyn Wilky: Clearly, we all know that immune therapy has just changed cancer care forever over the last few years for so many different types of cancers and diseases like melanoma and renal cell and lung cancer have just been transformed by checkpoint inhibitors specifically directed against PD-1 or CTLA-4 or both. And so, of course, you know, sarcoma docs we're super excited to try to see if these might potentially have activity in our tumors as well. I never had seen myself in my career getting into immunotherapy until I was able to run an investigator-initiated study during my role in Miami, where we combined pembrolizumab, so PD-1 inhibitor, with axitinib which was a pan-VEGF inhibitor. And lo and behold, like I had patients that I was seeing responses when other treatments, all those chemotherapies I was just talking about had failed. And one of my first patients I treated was about a 60-year-old lady with something called cutaneous angiosarcoma. So this is a blood vessel sarcoma all over her face. And we had treated her with 10 different therapies, all the chemotherapy regimens, targeted therapies, clinical trials, and nothing was working. But I put her on a phase 1 trial with a baby dose of CTLA-4 and this woman had a complete response. And so for me, once I saw it work in even just those couple of patients, like that was nothing that we'd ever seen with our chemotherapy regimens. And so that sort of shifted my career towards really focusing on this, and this is about the time where some of the studies started to come out for sarcomas. And the take home with sarcoma is about 20% of sarcomas have this sort of immune hot physiology. So what that basically means is if you look at gene expression of immune related gene signatures, or you look for infiltrating T-cells, sort of the SWAT team of our immune system, like you can find those in the tumors. And it's sort of evidence that the immune system had some clue for that 20% of patients that this was a foreign tumor and that it should be attacking it and maybe just needed a little help. But globally, about 80% of sarcomas are these immune cold tumors, which means the immune system has no clue that these things are even a threat. And there's almost no immune activation, very, very few antigens. In other cancer types, high neoantigens or tumor antigens help the immune system work better. And so that basically goes with what we've seen with trials of PD-1 or CTLA-4 blockade. About 20% of sarcomas, with some exceptions, can respond. But really 80% across the board, you're stuck, you just can't get them to be recognized. And so that's where I think this data is so interesting is there's some signals of activity in these immune cold tumors which, at least historically with the trials we've done so far, we really haven't seen that with sort of the traditional checkpoints. Shannon Westin: So I think now this is a great time to maybe talk about the study design in general, the eligibility and just give us kind of a run through of that. Dr. Breelyn Wilky: So this trial was a phase 1 trial of a drug called botensilimab, which is a next generation CTLA-4 directed immune modulator. So what makes botensilimab different is that the CTLA-4 end is very similar to other CTLA-4 inhibitors that are out there, but it's been engineered on the back end of the molecule that binds to Fc gamma receptors to basically bind tighter with higher affinity. And what this translates to in laboratory models and increasingly now in patients is it does a better job of priming, of educating our T cells, our, again, these highly intelligent antigen specific cells, but also natural killer cells. It does a better job of sort of educating those. It helps to activate macrophages and other supporting actors in the immune response. And so the idea here is that there's evidence that botensilimab may do a better job at creating new responses in immune cold tumors. The study combined either botensilimab as monotherapy or in combination with a PD-1 inhibitor called balstilimab. And this was all comers, really a variety of tumor types. And to date I think we're close to about 500 patients with a variety of solid tumors that have been accrued to this study, this C-800-01 phase 1 trial. This paper reports on the sarcoma patients that were enrolled as part of this study. And so, again, given what I've told you about sarcomas being really immune cold, we were just so excited to have the opportunity to enroll on a next generation immune therapy for these tumors that really we were running into roadblocks trying to use immunotherapy previously. Shannon Westin: It's a very compelling idea and I'm so excited for you to tell people what you found. I think first things first, it was an early phase trial. So why don't we talk a little bit about the safety of the regimen. Was there anything that you didn't expect? Dr. Breelyn Wilky: Right. So similar to other checkpoint inhibitors, you know, the idea is that these drugs can cause immune mediated toxicities, right? So essentially you're revving up the immune system and it can sometimes get a bit confused and start attacking our normal cells, our normal organs, leading to essentially any number of toxicities of basically head to toe, something can get inflamed and you can develop a toxicity from that. So the key take homes with this particular drug with, botensilimab with balstilimab, we saw colitis was sort of the primary immune mediated toxicity and it was about a third of patients, give or take. It happens and it can be aggressive and needs to be managed aggressively. And you know, one of the things that we learned very quickly taking part in this study is how important it is that as soon as patients start to get diarrhea, immunosuppression gets on board. So steroids, early use of TNF alpha blockade, so infliximab for example, if we jumped on it quickly and we recognized it and we got the patients treated, it would resolve fairly quickly and even some patients could remain on treatment. So I think that was sort of the first take home is “Okay if you get colitis, you treat it fast, you treat it early and you can still have patients not only recover, which essentially everybody recovered from this colitis and then being able to continue on treatment and still have their anti-tumor responses.” So that's the first point. The second thing that was really interesting is part of the engineering of botensilimab on the back end of the molecule, it's been designed to decrease complement binding and it's thought that that triggers some of these other toxicities that we've seen with prior CTLA-4 inhibitors like pneumonitis or hypophysitis. We actually don't see that with botensilimab. So there's sort of this selective toxicity that may reflect the design of the molecule. But overall the treatment was, we didn't see any new safety signals that were outside of what we would expect in class. And colitis was sort of the dominant thing that we had to be ready for and ready to manage. Shannon Westin: We've been doing it for a while now, so we kind of know what to do and we can act quickly and really try to mitigate and avoid some of the major toxicities. So that's great that that was what was reflected in what you found. And then of course I think: What about the efficacy?” Right. This is what we care about as practitioners, as patients. Does it work and are there any subtypes that seem to benefit the most from this combination? Dr. Breelyn Wilky: Right. So for the sarcoma patients, we treated 64 patients and 52 of those patients were evaluable for efficacy. So a decent size group of patients in sarcomas, where, you know, typically our trials are pretty small, they're very rare, but we had 52 evaluable with at least one post baseline scan. So that was our criteria. And basically we saw across all of the patients, and keep in mind, these are heavily pre-treated patients, as you mentioned, so a median of 3 prior lines of therapy, so most of these patients had had chemotherapies and then about 20% had also had prior immunotherapy as well. So PD-1 treatments or so on. The overall response rate by RECIST was 19.2% for all of the evaluable patients. And then with iRECIST, which is sort of that immune adapted response criteria that allows for early pseudo progression, we actually had another patient who did have that. And so that response rate was 21.2%. Overall, we were really excited to see this in a heavily pre-treated group of patients. But what was really exciting to me was when we looked at the subset of patients that had angiosarcoma, that blood vessel tumor I was talking about earlier with my other patient. So angios come in two flavors. One is this sort of cutaneous type, or meaning involving the skin that has a UV signature, a UV damage signature, very similar to melanoma. So these tumors tend to have a high mutation burden. And oftentimes there is a track record that we've seen responses with immunotherapy in cutaneous angiosarcomas. But the other group that we deal with is called visceral angiosarcomas. And so these are totally different biologically. These are often driven by mutations in MYC or KDR amplification, and they arise in organs, so primary breast angiosarcoma, not associated with radiation, or they can arise in the liver or the spleen or an extremity. So these are very, very different tumors, and the visceral ones almost never historically have responded to checkpoint inhibitors. So we had 18 patients with angio split - 9 with cutaneous, 9 with visceral. And we were just blown away because the response rate for that group was 27.8%. And if you looked at the responses between the hot ones and the cold ones, it was almost equal and a little bit better in the visceral. So we had a 33% response rate in visceral angiosarcoma, which is crazy, historically speaking, and about 20% again in the cutaneous angios. So for a disease where visceral angio gets treated with chemotherapy, might respond initially, but then rapidly progresses - like these people go through multiple lines of therapy - to have a third of patients responding, and then some of those responses were durable. Our median duration of response for the study was 21.7 months, which is just nuts for sarcomas where we just don't see those sorts of long term benefits with the drugs that we have. So I think those are kind of the two main things. There were other subtypes that had clinical benefit and responses as well in d-diff liposarcoma, soft tissue leiomyosarcoma, which are again thought to be fairly cold immune subtypes. So just really exciting to kind of see responses we hadn't expected in a very challenging group of tumors. Shannon Westin: We see all these patients and we have patients that respond so well to immunotherapy with other histotypes. And so it's so exciting to see an option for these really hard to treat tumors that our patients struggle with. So this is so, so very exciting. I wanted to make mention, you know, I was really impressed with the amount of translational work you were able to do in this early phase study. So do you want to review just maybe a few of the key findings that you guys discovered? Dr. Breelyn Wilky: It's always great. I'm a translational researcher at heart and we do a lot of immune correlative work. And I think the reason I got so excited about this field to begin with was trying to learn why it works for some patients and why it doesn't work for other patients. So I'm a huge believer in learning from every patient that we can. So it's such a testament to the company, Agenus, who sponsored this trial to invest their time and resources into correlative studies at this phase. It's huge. So we learned a couple of things. IL-6 or interleukin 6 is a cytokine that basically has, in other tumor types, been associated with worse outcomes. And what we were interested in this group is we saw the same thing. And again, sarcomas have very, very little correlative biology that's done. We're really in infancy and understanding the microenvironment and how that milieu balances out in our tumors. So we were really excited to see again that lower peripheral interleukin 6 associated with improved overall survival. So again, kind of sorting out a group of patients that might be immunologically favorable when it comes to this type of therapy. The other thing that's important to know about sarcoma is so the other tumor types are lucky and have PD-L1 expression and the tumor is a biomarker, but we never have PD-L1 expression. We can find it in sarcomas and it can be loosely correlated with a chance of benefit with immunotherapy. But I've had patients respond that were PD-L1 negative, and I've had patients that were loaded with PD-L1 that didn't seem to make a difference. And that's not just in this study. So we saw in this trial a trend towards improved overall survival with PD-L1 expression that wasn't significant, but there was like this trend. And it's really interesting because, again, this is largely a CTLA-4 directed therapy. And so what we wondered is if PD-L1 expression is an index of sort of this underlying potential immunogenicity. And actually PD-1 works very late in the whole immune process. That's really at the very end where you've got the T cell that's facing the tumor cell and it's just activating that T cell that's already grown up and already educated and ready to go. Whereas CTLA-4 is really educating in early immune responses and expanding the T cells that have potential to kill. So I'm interested to look into this in more depth in the future to see if this is actually the biomarker for CTLA-4 directed therapy that we've been looking for, because we really don't have a great sense about that. And then the last piece just to note is that in this trial, like most others, very, very few sarcomas had high mutational burden. Everybody was very low, which reflects the population. And it's just really more encouragement than an immune cold tumor with very crappy neoantigens can still respond to immunotherapy if we get them the right agents. Shannon Westin: Yeah, I mean, I'm taking notes because we have such a struggle with this across the gynecologic tumors. I'm like, “Okay, maybe this is finally it.” So hopefully your work will go on to really inspire us across a number of solid tumors that have been traditionally cold. So, so very exciting. And I would just say for my last question, obviously, congratulations on this successful study. What do you think are the next steps for this combination in sarcomas? Dr. Breelyn Wilky: So, again, just to your point, this trial enrolled a bunch of different subtypes, and sarcomas are not the only immune cold tumor that this combo has looked really promising for, microsatellite stable colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer that was platinum refractory, non-small cell lungs. So I think the future is really bright for immune cold tumors kind of across the board. So, yes, lots of hope for not just sarcomas but in terms of our patients, I just have to be so grateful to Agenus for their interest in a rare disease. Sometimes it's hard to get that interest for a very challenging group of patients that are all heterogeneous, they are not all the same and our big clinical trials are a few hundred patients. It's just a very different environment. But they have been so supportive and involved in making sure that sarcomas are represented in their priorities. So there are ongoing discussions about what the optimal way to explore this further in sarcomas is going to be and I cannot wait to have the official plans in place. But my hope is this will not be the last that we see of these drugs for our patients. Shannon Westin: Well, I support that and my vote is on your side. So, thank you so much again, Dr. Wilky. This time just flew by. This was such a great discussion and I mean, I think it's, again, a testament to your exciting data. And thank you to all of our listeners. This has been JCO After Hours' discussion of “Botensilimab (Fc-enhanced anti-cytotoxic lymphocyte-association protein-4 antibody) Plus Balstilimab (anti-PD-1 antibody) in Patients With Relapsed/Refractory Metastatic Sarcomas,” published in the JCO on January 27, 2025. So be sure to check out the full manuscript. And we hope that you enjoyed this podcast. And if you want to hear more about research published in the JCO, check this out on our ASCO JCO website or wherever you get your podcasts. Have an awesome day.   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. Dr. Wilky Disclosures  Consulting or Advisory Role: SpringWorks Therapeutics, Deciphera, Epizyme, Adcendo, Polaris, Boehringer Ingelheim, AADi, InhibRx Research Funding: Exelixis Travel, Accommodations, Expenses: Agenus    

In a recent episode of Oncology on the Go, several oncologists discussed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on oncology care, 5 years later. Each doctor discussed a different aspect of multidisciplinary care, including medical oncology, radiation oncology, and epidemiology. CancerNetwork® spoke with leading clinicians including:  ·      Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, FSCO, professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, and director of Translational Research Integration at the University of California Los Angeles Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center; ·      Ritu Salani, MD, director of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of California Los Angeles, and ONCOLOGY® editorial advisory board member; ·      Scarlett Lin Gomez, PhD, MPH, a professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), and co-leader of the Cancer Control Program at UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center ·      Marwan F. Fakih, MD, professor in the Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, associate director for Clinical Sciences, medical director of the Briskin Center for Clinical Research, division chief of GI Medical Oncology, and co-director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Program at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center; ·      Elizabeth Zhang-Velten, MD, a radiation oncologist at Keck Medicine of University of Southern California;  ·      Frances Elain Chow, MD, neuro-oncologist at the University of Southern California (USC) Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center ·      James Yu, MD, MHS, FASTRO, assistant professor adjunct, Department of Radiation Oncology, Smilow Cancer Hospital at Saint Francis Hospital, and ONCOLOGY® editorial advisory board member.  The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted routine cancer care in a number of ways. Many patients were unable to receive timely screening, diagnosis, and treatment, Fakih noted. Additionally, Bardia stated that the pandemic led to a decrease in the number of patients participating in clinical trials. One of the most significant changes in oncology care, according to Salani, has been the increased use of telehealth. Telehealth has allowed patients to receive care from the comfort of their own homes, which has been especially beneficial for patients who live in rural areas or who have difficulty traveling. Telehealth has also made it easier for patients to connect with their doctors and to receive support from other members of their care team.  For Gomez, the COVID-19 pandemic also highlighted the importance of addressing the structural and social drivers of health. These are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age that can affect their health. For example, people who live in poverty or who lack access to healthy food are more likely to develop cancer. The pandemic has led to a renewed focus on addressing these disparities. Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on oncology care. However, it has also led to a number of positive changes, such as the increased use of telehealth and the focus on addressing the structural and social drivers of health. In the years to come, it will be important to continue to build on these changes in order to improve the lives of patients with cancer.

Dr. Michael McCarthy, Secretary of the Irish Society of Medical Oncology and Consultant Medical Oncologist and Professor Michael Barry, Clinical Director for the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics

In a conversation with CancerNetwork®, Marwan G. Fakih, MD, spoke about the FDA approval of sotorasib (Lumakras) plus panitumumab (Vectibix), and how it may affect the treatment paradigm for patients with KRAS G12C-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). Fakih is a professor in the Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, associate director for Clinical Sciences, medical director of the Briskin Center for Clinical Research, division chief of GI Medical Oncology, and co-director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Program at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, California. According to Fakih, the approval of this combination regimen is a “welcome step” for those with metastatic CRC harboring KRAS G12C mutations. Based on supporting data from the phase 3 CodeBreaK 300 trial (NCT05198934), sotorasib/panitumumab may prolong progression-free survival (PFS) and reduce disease burden in patients while offering improvements in other outcomes vs prior standards of care (SOC) like trifluridine/tipiracil (Lonsurf) and regorafenib (Stivarga). Topline data at the time of the approval showed a median PFS of 5.6 months (95% CI, 4.2-6.3) with sotorasib at 960 mg plus panitumumab vs 2.0 months (95% CI, 1.9-3.9) in the SOC arm, in which patients were assigned to receive trifluridine/tipiracil or regorafenib (HR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.30-0.78; P = .005). Additionally, the overall response rate was 26% (95% CI, 15%-40%) vs 0% (95% CI, 0%-7%) in each respective arm. Looking ahead, Fakih highlighted the potential next steps for research associated with the sotorasib combination as well as other novel therapeutic strategies in the gastrointestinal cancer space. For example, he described the phase 3 CodeBreaK 301 study (NCT06252649), which will evaluate sotorasib/panitumumab as frontline therapy when administered in combination with folinic acid, fluorouracil, and irinotecan (FOLFIRI) vs FOLFIRI plus bevacizumab (Avastin) in metastatic KRAS G12C-mutant CRC. Other novel agents under development in the space include RAS inhibitors and immunotherapy regimens combining CTLA-4 inhibitors with anti–PD-L1 agents. References 1. FDA approves sotorasib with panitumumab for KRAS G12C-mutated colorectal cancer. News release. FDA. January 16, 2025. Accessed February 12, 2025. https://shorturl.at/1WviB 2. Kim TW, Price T, Grasselli J, et al. A phase 3 study of first-line sotorasib, panitumumab, and FOLFIRI versus FOLFIRI with or without bevacizumab-awwb for patients with KRAS G12C–mutated metastatic colorectal cancer (CodeBreaK 301). J Clin Oncol. 2025;43(suppl 4):TPS326. doi:10.1200/JCO.2025.43.4_suppl.TPS326

Check out this week's QuadCast as we highlight bone SBRT guidelines, best practice in the treatment of WHO grade II meningioma, frequency of partial breast IMRT treatment, and more. Check out the website and subscribe to the newsletter! www.quadshotnews.com Founders & Lead Authors: Laura Dover & Caleb Dulaney Podcast Host: Sam Marcrom

Check out this week's QuadCast as we highlight the results of RTOG 0920 for adjuvant therapy in H&N cancer, the benefit of bone protective agents in patients receiving radium 223 + enzalutamide, the benefit of incorporating counseling into smoking cessation strategies, and more. Check out the website and subscribe to the newsletter! www.quadshotnews.com Founders & Lead Authors: Laura Dover & Caleb Dulaney Podcast Host: Sam Marcrom

Join us for an empowering and insightful conversation as Dr. Jennie Berkovich sits down with Dr. Amy Comander, a leading breast oncologist and advocate for patient-centered care. In this episode, Dr. Comander shares her expertise on the latest advancements in breast cancer detection, treatment, and survivorship. Discover how personalized medicine and multidisciplinary care are revolutionizing outcomes for breast cancer patients. Dr. Comander also delves into the critical role of lifestyle medicine—including exercise, nutrition, and mindfulness—in promoting healing and resilience. With her unique perspective as a passionate runner and physician, Dr. Comander draws inspiring parallels between running and the cancer journey, offering hope and practical advice for patients and their families navigating a diagnosis. Whether you're a healthcare professional, patient, or advocate, this episode will leave you informed, inspired, and ready to run the race toward better cancer care. Don't miss it! Dr. Amy Comander specializes in the care of women with breast cancer.  Dr. Comander is Medical Director of the Mass General Cancer Center in Waltham, where she also serves as Director of Breast Oncology and Cancer Survivorship at the Mass General Cancer Center in Waltham and at Newton Wellesley Hospital. She is an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She received her undergraduate degree and a master's degree in Neuroscience at Harvard University. She received her medical degree at Yale University School of Medicine. She completed her Internal Medicine residency training and Hematology-Oncology fellowship training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. She is board certified in Hematology and Medical Oncology, and she is a Diplomat of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine. _________________________________________________ Sponsor the JOWMA Podcast! Email digitalcontent@jowma.org Become a JOWMA Member! www.jowma.org Follow us on Instagram! www.instagram.com/JOWMA_org Follow us on Twitter! www.twitter.com/JOWMA_med Follow us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/JOWMAorg Stay up-to-date with JOWMA news! Sign up for the JOWMA newsletter! https://jowma.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=9b4e9beb287874f9dc7f80289&id=ea3ef44644&mc_cid=dfb442d2a7&mc_eid=e9eee6e41e

Check out this week's QuadCast as we highlight spinal cord constraints for spine SBRT, published results of RTOG 1112 where liver SBRT shines, the role of prophylactic nodal RT in prostate SBRT, and more. Check out the website and subscribe to the newsletter! www.quadshotnews.com Founders & Lead Authors: Laura Dover & Caleb Dulaney Podcast Host: Sam Marcrom

In today's episode, we had the pleasure of speaking with Alec Watson, MD, a thoracic oncology fellow in the School of Medicine in the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora. In our exclusive interview, Dr Watson discussed the rationale for and key findings from a retrospective analysis examining the ways that oncogene overlap could identify clinically relevant thresholds for MET, KRAS, and HER2 gene copy number gain in non–small cell lung cancer; next steps for this research; and the future implications of these findings.