Podcasts about oncology times

A tumor-agnostic classifier and screening tool was announced at ESMO Congress 2024 in Barcelona. It was created to make it easier and quicker to develop new drugs that have specific molecular targets, and thus have potential anti-cancer efficacy irrespective of tumor type or location. The ESMO Tumour-Agnostic Classifier and Screener was the result of work by a multidisciplinary team of international experts led by the ESMO Precision Medicine Working Group. At the conference, Benedikt Westphalen, MD, a medical oncologist and molecular biologist who is Head of the Precision Oncology Program at the University of Munich in Germany, talked about the details with Oncology Times correspondent Peter Goodwin.

In a Phase I study with 318 patients in China and Australia the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) IBI354 was found to be safe and have promising efficacy in patients whose breast and other solid tumors tested positive for HER2 or were categorized as “HER2-low.” At ESMO Congress 2024, the study also reported a low rate of interstitial lung disease in patients treated with the ADC. Oncology Times correspondent Peter Goodwin talked with Christina Teng, PhD, the presenting author of the new research from Scientia Clinical Research and the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney, Australia.

When patients with recurrent high-grade glioblastoma were treated with autologous myeloid dendritic cells, they had clinical responses described as “encouraging” in a Phase I clinical trial reported at the ESMO Congress 2024. Cells harvested from each patient were injected directly into the resection cavity brain tissue lining after surgery. Patients also received intracranial injections of the checkpoint inhibitor combination: nivolumab + ipilimumab. At the conference, Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin caught up with lead author of the study, Bart Neyns, MD, PhD, Head of Medical Oncology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in the University Hospital Brussels Faculty of Medicine & Pharmacy in Belgium.

The addition of preoperative chemoradiation therapy to perioperative chemotherapy did not improve overall survival as compared with perioperative chemotherapy alone in patients with resectable gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinomas. The multi-continent, Phase III randomized TOPGEAR trial has definitively found no benefit from adding radiation before surgery in terms of overall or progression-free survival. This clear finding was reported simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine and at the ESMO 2024 Congress held in Barcelona, Spain. After presenting the findings , first author Trevor Leong, MD, Radiation Oncologist at the Peter McCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia, met up with Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin.

Patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer experienced “clinically meaningful” improvements in key outcomes—event-free survival and overall survival—when the immune checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab was added to their standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy. This was in research findings, reported at the ESMO Congress 2024, from the NIAGARA randomized Phase Ill trial of neoadjuvant durvalumab plus chemotherapy followed by radical cystectomy and adjuvant durvalumab in patients with cisplatin-eligible muscle-invasive bladder cancer. After his talk at the ESMO Barcelona conference, first author Thomas Powles, MBBS, MRCP, MD, from the Barts Cancer Institute at Queen Mary University of London, UK, met up with Oncology Times correspondent Peter Goodwin.

Sustained responses and long-term overall survival have resulted from checkpoint inhibitor therapy for advanced melanoma, transforming the prognosis for as many as half of patients. This is according to 10-year survival outcomes from the Phase Ill CheckMate 067 trial of nivolumab plus ipilimumab in advanced melanoma that were reported at the ESMO Congress 2024. At the conference, Oncology Times reporter, Peter Goodwin, caught up with James Larkin, FRCP, PhD, Professor and Medical Oncologist at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.

Patients with newly diagnosed, surgically resected MGMT-unmethylated glioblastoma may benefit from treatment with a therapeutic mRNA vaccine called CVGBM, according to findings from a first-in-human, Phase I safety and dose-escalation study from Tübingen, Germany, reported at the ESMO Congress 2024 held in Barcelona. The CVGBM vaccine encodes multiple molecular features derived from tumor-associated antigens, all of which were judged to be potentially relevant in glioblastoma. After reporting her group’s findings to the ESMO Barcelona meeting, first author Ghazaleh Tabatabai, MD, PhD, a neurologist, Professor of Neuro-Oncology, and Chair of the Department of Neurology and Interdisciplinary Neuro-Oncology at the University Hospital, Tübingen, Germany, talked about the findings with Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin.

A large, expanded-cohort pooled analysis of neoadjuvant immunotherapy for patients with resectable Stage III melanoma has reported very high rates of durable survival. The findings from the world’s biggest center of expertise in melanoma were announced at ESMO Congress 2024. The study included patients from clinical trials and real-world studies who had pure immune checkpoint inhibitor neoadjuvant therapy, or combinations including BRAF/MEK targeted therapy. After giving her talk in Barcelona, lead investigator Georgina Long, AO, PhD, MBBS, FRACP, Professor and Co-Medical Director at the Melanoma Institute Australia, University of Sydney, gave Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin the details.

Drug resistance can be delayed and treatment outcomes predicted in patients with ovarian cancer with the help of relatively low-cost molecular precision management techniques using liquid biopsies. These are being developed by a team at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) led by Jian Yu Rao, MD, Vice Chair of Diagnostic Technology Innovation at UCLA, where he is also Chief of Cytopathology and Director of International Telepathology. At the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) held in Xiamen, China, Rao gave Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin details of the molecular methods he had just outlined to the conference.

The escalating danger of cardiac toxicity posed by a range of increasingly effective anti-cancer therapies is insufficiently understood, according to the head of a world center of excellence for the study of cardio-oncology in northern China. At a special session devoted to cardio-oncology held at the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) 2024 Annual Meeting, the challenges of cardio-oncology were examined by a committee of experts with reference to the CSCO Clinical Practice Guide for Tumor Cardiology. Among the speakers was cardiologist Yun-Long Xia, MD, PhD, FESC, FHRS, Head of Cardiovascular Medicine at Dalian Medical University in China. Afterward, he talked about their conclusions with Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin.

An assessment of progress with antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for the treatment of HER2-dependent metastatic breast cancer was given at the 2024 Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) Annual Meeting. The President-Elect of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), Giuseppe Curigliano, MD, PhD, Director of the Early Drug Development for Innovative Therapies Division at the European Institute of Oncology and the University of Milano in Italy, told Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin about the broadening scope of ADCs in breast cancer and his reasons for encouraging ESMO and CSCO to continue to expand their co-operation.

Details of the expanding range of cell therapies beyond hematologic malignancy were reported at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) by Oliver Dorigo, MD, PhD, Director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at the Stanford Women's Cancer Center in Stanford University. After his talk at CSCO, Dorigo told Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin about the promise cell therapies held for improving outcomes in ovarian cancer and other solid tumors, as well as the benefit of the exchange of ideas flowing between China, U.S., and other global players in this young science.

At the opening session of the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) 2024 Annual Meeting, attended by nearly 30,000 cancer specialists, Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin asked the President of CSCO, Xu Ruihua, MD, PhD, Professor and President of Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center in Guangzhou, China, to talk about some of the ways that progress in cancer treatments had been made more productive by co-operation between Chinese and Western centers of oncology excellence.

Important findings about the benefit of neoadjuvant therapies, especially those involving checkpoint inhibition, have been reported at the 2024 Annual meeting of the European Society for Medical Oncology, ESMO. The Scientific Chair of the meeting, Rebecca Dent MD, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the National Cancer Center in Singapore, told Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin about some of the key areas of progress covered by the meeting that she was most excited about.

Although co-medication with proton pump inhibitors (PPI) is not advised for patients being treated with dasatanib for their chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), confirmation that this recommendation is often overlooked has been reported in a study led by Torsten Dahlén, a PhD student at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. Furthermore, the study found a higher than previously reported negative interaction of PPI comedication on crystalline dasatinib bioavailability that may compromise clinical efficacy and risk CML disease progression. The latest findings from the study were reported in a poster session at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting where Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin met up with Olof Harlin, PhD, of Xspray Pharma, based in Solna, near Stockholm, Sweden.

A mathematical model using data from routine diagnostic samples has been found to accurately predict individual patient responses to the main candidate first-line treatments for acute myeloid leukemia. Findings from a validation study in independent patient cohorts led by researchers from the Barts Cancer Institute at the Queen Mary University of London were reported at a poster session of the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting. Oncology Times correspondent Peter Goodwin attended the session and talked with the second author of the study, Weronika E. Borek PhD, a Bioinformatics Technical Lead at Kinomica Limited in London.

When the mucin-1 (MUC-1) vaccine tecemotide was added to standard-of-care neoadjuvant systemic therapy, investigators in Austria found improved long-term outcomes in women with early breast cancer. Individuals vaccinated with tecemotide had markedly longer distant recurrence-free and overall survival. This was in the randomized prospective ABCSG-34 trial presented at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting. Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin met up in Chicago with the lead study author, Christian F. Singer MD, a gynecologist specializing in breast cancer at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Comprehensive Cancer Center of the Medical University of Vienna, in Vienna, Austria.

The CARACO prospective, multi-institutional, Phase III trial, among patients with newly diagnosed advanced epithelial ovarian cancer, found that lymphadenectomy should be omitted in patients with clinically negative lymph nodes, as well as those undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy and interval complete surgery. This finding from the University of Nantes was reported at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting. The researchers noted this surgical de-escalation allows significant reduction of serious post-operative morbidity After the session, Oncology Times correspondent Peter Goodwin learned about more study details from Jean-Marc Classe, MD, PhD, Professor of Surgery in the Department of Surgical Oncology in the Institut de Cancérologie de l'Ouest and Nantes University in Western France.

A combination of two checkpoint inhibitors used as neoadjuvant therapy for macroscopic, resectable Stage III melanoma brought a highly statistically significant improvement over the standard of care: surgery followed by checkpoint inhibition (therapeutic lymph node dissection followed by adjuvant therapy with nivolumab, pembrolizumab or, in BRAFmut melanoma, dabrafenib + trametinib). This research was reported from the ASCO 2024 Annual Meeting and highlighted the NADINA trial from the Netherlands. After his session at ASCO, the lead author of NADINA, Christian U. Blank, MD, PhD, from the Netherlands Cancer Institute and Antoni van Leeuwenhook Hospital, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, met up with Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin to discuss the findings.

Not only can palliative care be delivered effectively by telehealth to patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, it's also as effective as face-to-face delivery by specialist clinicians, according to a study reported at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting. In addition, telehealth turned out to be more popular. For the Oncology Times podcast, OncTimesTalk, correspondent Peter Goodwin spoke with Joseph A. Greer, PhD, lead author of the study and Co-Director of the Cancer Outcomes Research and Education Program at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Primary results from ASC4FIRST trial, the first study in chronic myeloid leukemia comparing current standard-of-care frontline tyrosine kinase inhibitors with the novel agent asciminib in newly diagnosed patients, were reported at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting. First author Timothy Hughes MD, Consultant Hematologist with the Royal Adelaide Hospital, the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, and the University of Adelaide in Australia, reported higher efficacy in terms of major molecular responses and lower toxicity with asciminib. After his talk in Chicago, he met up with Oncology Times reporter, Peter Goodwin.

Data from the DESTINY Breast06 trial using the antibody-drug conjugate trastuzumab deruxtecan to treat patients with estrogen receptor positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor-low (HER2-low), and HER2-ultralow breast cancer after endocrine therapy, show longer progression-free survival in comparison with standard chemotherapy. After announcing the results at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting, first author Giuseppe Curigliano, MD, PhD, Director of Early Drug Development for the Innovative Therapies Division of the European Institute of Oncology, discussed the findings with Oncology Times correspondent Peter Goodwin

Treatment with perioperative chemotherapy, with chemotherapy before and after surgery, brought superior outcomes for patients with locally advanced esophageal adenocarcinoma, in research reported to the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting. Lead author Jens Höppner FAChirg, FACS, MD, Director of the Department of Surgery in the University Medical Center at the University of Bielefeld in Germany, spoke with Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin about his group’s comparison of neoadjuvant therapy using the CROSS (41.4 Gy plus carboplatin/paclitaxel) regimen followed by surgery, with the use of an alternative protocol: perioperative FLOT (5-FU/ leucovorin/oxaliplatin/docetaxel) and surgery, in which chemotherapy is given both before and after curative surgery.

New data from the Phase III LAURA study, reported in Chicago at the ASCO 2024 Annual Meeting Plenary Session, suggest that the tyrosine kinase inhibitor osimertinib could become standard of care for treating patients whose unresectable locally advanced lung cancers test positive for mutated epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and have no progression after definitive chemoradiotherapy. In Chicago, Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin met up with lead author of the LAURA study, Suresh S. Ramalingam MD, Executive Director of the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.

When the immune checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab was added to standard-of-care chemoradiation treatment for patients with limited-stage small-cell lung cancer, it brought a “statistically significant and clinically meaningful” improvement in overall and progression-free survival, compared to adding placebo. This was in data from the ADRIATIC study reported in the Plenary Session at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago. Peter Goodwin was there for Oncology Times, where he talked with the lead author of the new research, David Spigel, MD, Chief Scientific Officer at Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, TN.

An improvement over standard care in both efficacy and safety of a new combination regimen for treating Hodgkin lymphoma was discussed at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago. The six-drug BrECADD regimen was compared with the high-achieving German-originated BEACOPP chemotherapy that has been widely adopted as standard of care. During the conference, Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin met up with Peter Borchmann, MD, PhD, the lead author of the new research and Chair of the German Hodgkin Study Group at the University Hospital of Cologne in Germany.

The 2024 AACR Annual Meeting heard that an “efficacy signal” was detected in an international Phase I study of a new radiosensitizer, tested as adjunctive therapy (combined with standard radiation plus temozolomide) in patients with recurrent glioblastoma. After reporting his group's early findings of AZD1390, an inhibitor of ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) kinase studied in 115 patients with recurrent or newly diagnosed glioblastoma, first author Jonathan T. Yang MD, PhD, previously from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and now at UW Medicine, stepped into the Oncology Times studio at the AACR conference to tell OncTimesTalk's reporter Peter Goodwin about the safety of this new agent and the clinical value it could bring in glioblastoma.

Findings from a new study support a body of evidence showing that physical exercise can bring benefits to patients with advanced prostate cancer. Data from an intervention study reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2024 are consistent with mounting epidemiological evidence showing that regular physical exercise can help patients with advanced or metastatic prostate cancer “deter” death, slow disease progression, and improve quality of life. Stacey A. Kenfield, ScD, Professor of Urology and the Helen Diller Family Chair in Population Science for Urologic Cancer at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), reported early data from the INTERVAL-GAP4 trial. Together with her colleague, June Chan, ScD, Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics in Urology at UCSF, she called into the Oncology Times studio at the San Diego conference to tell OncTimesTalk anchor, Peter Goodwin, about the newest findings and recommendations for using physical exercise as a form of therapy for patients with prostate and other cancers.

An early study using selective inhibition of the Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) has provided evidence it could bring greater cancer control with less toxicity than the well-proven non-selective PARP 1 and PARP 2 inhibitors already in use for treating a number of tumor types. At the AACR Annual Meeting 2024, Timothy Yap, PhD, MD, MBBS, Vice President and Head of Clinical Development in the Therapeutics Discovery Division at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, reported early data from the PETRA study looking at the selective PARP 1 inhibitor saruparib under investigation as a potentially safer, yet more effective, alternative to the non-selective PARP 1/PARP 2 inhibitors currently licensed for prostate, ovarian, breast, and other cancers. After announcing the new research findings at a clinical session at AACR, he met up with Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin to discuss the new data and their clinical potential.

Double checkpoint blockade using a single bispecific agent could become the new standard for treating advanced gastric cancer regardless of PD-L1 status, according to research reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2024. The investigational bispecific antibody drug cadonilimab (used with chemotherapy) significantly extended life and delayed disease progression among patients with HER2-negative advanced or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancers reported from Chinese investigators. The first author of the report, Jiafu Ji, MD, PhD, DrPH, FACS, FRCS, Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Medical Science, as well as Professor and Chief of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center at Peking University Cancer Hospital and the Beijing Institute for Cancer Research in China, called into the Oncology Times office at AACR after his talk to discuss his team's findings with Peter Goodwin, an OncTimesTalk correspondent.

A growing discipline, palliative care medicine remains underutilized. Studies suggest that patients and providers commonly confuse palliative care with end-of-life care. In this episode, Dr. Liu is joined by Dr. Sunita Puri, Program Director of the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center & Chan School of Medicine and author of That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour. During their discussion, Dr. Puri explains how fears related to misconceptions about palliative care can rob patients of their opportunity to engage in important conversations about living with chronic disease. As in her book, Dr. Puri uses stories to illustrate that palliative medicine moves its focus away from cures – focusing instead on questions regarding quality of life - about symptom management, hope, and what a ‘miracle' might really mean. About our Guest, Sunita Puri, M.D. Dr. Sunita Puri is the Program Director of the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center & Chan School of Medicine, where she is also an associate professor of clinical medicine. A graduate of Yale University, she completed medical school and residency training in internal medicine at the University of California San Francisco followed by fellowship training in palliative medicine at Stanford. She is the author of That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour, a critically acclaimed literary memoir examining her journey to the practice of palliative medicine, and her quest to help patients and families redefine what it means to live and die well in the face of serious illness. She is the recipient of a Rhodes Scholarship and a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. Her writing and book have been featured in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, JAMA, the Atlantic, NPR, India Today, the Asian Age, the Oncology Times, and, forthcoming, the New Yorker. In 2019, the Guardian made a mini-documentary of her work in palliative medicine which has been viewed nearly 3 million times. She has been interviewed on the PBS Cristian Amanpour show, at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, ZDogg MD's show, and numerous podcasts. In 2018, she was awarded the Etz Chaim Tree of Life Award from the USC School of Medicine, awarded annually to a member of the faculty who, in the eyes of the campus community, models and provides humanistic and compassionate care. She has taught medical memoir and literary nonfiction to medical students and residents, and has delivered talks about palliative medicine, the centrality of narrative and storytelling in medicine, and physician well-being in forums around the world. ABOUT THE BOOK Interweaving evocative stories of Puri's family and the patients she cares for, That Good Night is a stunning meditation on impermanence and the role of medicine in helping us to live and die well, arming readers with information that will transform how we communicate with our doctors about what matters most to us. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/aimatmelanoma/support

Progress in esophageal cancer is forging ahead at Columbia University in New York. Brian Henick, MD, is a medical oncologist specializing in the care of patients with malignancies of the aerodigestive tract. As Associate Director of Experimental Therapeutics and Director of Translational Research in Aerodigestive Cancers in Medical Oncology, Henick is involved in a wide range of studies at Columbia. Oncology Times correspondent Peter Goodwin recently had the opportunity to ask Henick about new therapy approaches for esophageal cancer, in particular molecular mechanisms and immunotherapies.

Today we are introducing the new Oncology Times Editorial Board Chair: Stephanie L. Graff, MD, FACP. In her new role, Graff will help Oncology Times continue to provide essential clinical news and analysis for the cancer care community. Graff is Director of Breast Oncology at Lifespan Cancer Institute and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Brown University. Oncology Times contributor Catlin Nalley sat down with Graff to discuss her career path and oncology care philosophy.

When cancer advances to an incurable stage, some patients may prioritize treatment that will extend their life as long as possible, and others may prefer a care plan that's designed to minimize pain. Talking to patients about their prognosis and values can help clinicians develop care plans that are better aligned to each patient's goals. However, it's essential that the discussions happen before patients become too ill. The results of a long-term clinical trial showed electronic nudges delivered to health care clinicians based on a machine learning algorithm that predicts mortality risk quadrupled rates of conversations with patients about their end-of-life care preferences (JAMA Oncol 2023; doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2022.6303). The study, published by Penn Medicine investigators, also found that the machine learning-triggered reminders significantly decreased use of aggressive chemotherapy and other systemic therapies at end of life. Oncology Times interviewed study author Ravi B. Parikh, MD, about the results. Parikh is an oncologist and Assistant Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy and Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Associate Director of the Penn Center for Cancer Care Innovation at Abramson Cancer Center.

Despite increased screening and HPV vaccines, cervical cancer remains the fourth-leading cause of cancer death among women worldwide. Screening guidelines are constantly scrutinized and reassessed. The most current U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) guidelines recommend screening for cervical cancer every 3 years with cervical cytology alone in women aged 21 to 29 years. For women aged 30 to 65 years, the USPSTF recommends screening every 3 years with cervical cytology alone, every 5 years with high-risk HPV testing, or every 5 years with high-risk HPV testing with cytology. To get the full picture on how gynecologists and oncologists today are navigating screening guidelines and new treatment options with their patients, Oncology Times interviewed Deanna Gerber, MD, an obstetrics and gynecology specialist at NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center. Gerber treats women who have cancer of the reproductive tract and who have been diagnosed with a genetic mutation that increases their risk of gynecologic cancer. She offers preventive treatments and risk-reducing surgery as a routine part of her care approach. She discussed how oncologists can approach conversations around screening and address the issue of screening overuse and underuse.

We talk to Naveen Pemmaraju, MD, about the results of the largest prospective BPDCN trial evaluating the CD123-targeted therapy tagraxofusp in adults with treatment-naive and relapsed/refractory blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN). BPDCN is a rare and aggressive myeloid malignancy of the dendritic cell lineage which can affect other organs such as the lymph nodes, spleen, central nervous system, and skin. The disease carries a poor prognosis, and although it has been treated with combination leukemia or lymphoma chemotherapy regimens, these often result in nondurable responses with high rates of relapse. Oncology Times journalist Catlin Nalley sat down with Pemmaraju to discuss his most recent study titled “Long-Term Benefits of Tagraxofusp for Patients With Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm,” recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (2022; doi: 10.1200/JCO.22.00034). Pemmaraju is Associate Professor in the Department of Leukemia at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and has dedicated his career to the study of rare and ultra-rare cancers.

At the ASCO 2022 Annual Meeting, Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin interviewed Marla Lipsyc-Sharf, MD, Medical Oncology Fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Mass General Brigham, who reported what she believes is the first data on ctDNA detection in late adjuvant, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. The research showed ctDNA testing was successful in detecting measurable residual disease (MRD) prior to late clinical metastatic recurrence in women with high-risk, HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer (Abstract 103).

At the ASCO 2022 Annual Meeting, Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin caught up with Julia C. Tchou, MD, PhD, FACS, from the University of Pennsylvania Health System, during her poster session. Her research examined the feasibility and acceptability of a weight loss group program via telehealth for breast cancer survivors.

At the ASCO 2022 Annual Meeting, Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin caught up with Alexander I. Spira, MD, PhD, FACP after his presentation on KRYSTAL-1: Activity and safety of adagrasib (MRTX849) in patients with advanced/metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring a KRASG12C mutation (Abstract 9002).

Colleague Conversations offers insights into hematology/oncology from two different perspectives: a seasoned hematologist/oncologist and a clinician earlier in their career. Oncology Times reporter Catlin Nalley sat down with Lucy A. Godley, MD, PhD, and Gina Keiffer, MD, to discuss germline predisposition to hematologic malignancies. They delve into our growing understanding of this area, including current and future research endeavors, and examine how germline predisposition intersects with disparities in cancer care. Godley is the Hospira Foundation Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics at The University of Chicago Medicine, and Keiffer is board certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology, and Oncology at Jefferson Health in New Jersey.

A bilateral prophylactic mastectomy for women at high risk of developing breast cancer can reduce their risk of developing the disease by up to 90 percent, according to the National Cancer Institute. An increasing number of women, including young women, are taking up this option. And while the data shows mastectomy is an effective method of reducing breast cancer risk, doctors still have to consider patients' choices which often involve other factors. For the individual patient, choosing a mastectomy is a complex non-linear process that is affected by personal knowledge, past experiences, and emotions surrounding identity and societal expectation. To understand these factors more, Oncology Times interviewed Clara N. Lee, MD, Associate Professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Lee's clinical practice focuses on breast reconstruction and microvascular surgery and her research focuses on understanding and improving how people with cancer make decisions about surgery. She recently authored a paper titled “The Role of Emotion in Cancer Surgery Decisions: Applying Concepts From Decision Psychology” published in the Annals of Surgery (2021; doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000004574). She has expertise in patient-reported outcomes for breast reconstruction and patient decision-making about breast cancer treatments. We discussed a bit of her research into the emotional journeys of patients who are deciding whether to proceed with contralateral prophylactic mastectomy

While the threat of climate change may conjure images of sea level rise, extreme weather patterns, and drought, the full picture of how climate change will impact oncology practice and care is still emerging. We do know that climate change will impact cancer risk, increase exposure to carcinogens, impede access to care, and ultimately effect survival.To discuss some of these impending changes and what oncologists and patients can do to prepare, Oncology Times interviewed Robert A. Hiatt, MD, PhD, Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Associate Director of Population Sciences at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Today we revisit three studies presented at the ASH 2021 Annual Meeting. Primary Analysis of ZUMA-7 The 2021 American Society of Hematology Plenary Sessions in Atlanta, Georgia, heard data from a new study of CAR-T cell therapy in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: the Phase III randomized ZUMA-7 trial. This compared Axicabtagene Ciloleucel (Axi-Cell) with the current standard-of-care in patients whose disease had relapsed or was refractory after first-line therapy.After the talk, Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin caught up with the lead investigator Frederick Locke, MD, Co-Leader of the Immuno-Oncology Program, and Vice Chair of the Department of Blood and Marrow Transplant and Cellular Immunotherapy at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL.How Patients with AML & MDS Respond to COVID Vaccines ASH 2021 held a cluster of sessions devoted to coronavirus infection in patients with hematologic malignancies.Since cancer patients in general are at higher risk from COVID-19 than the general population, it has become vitally important to know whether vaccines can protect them. Vaccine responses in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia have been investigated by a team led by Jeffrey Lancet, MD, Chair of Malignant Hematology at the Moffit Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida.Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin asked him about his findings.Antibody Response to VaccinationWhether or not to vaccinate your patient for COVID-19 may not be obvious in some clinical situations, and in hematologic malignancy this cannot be assumed.At ASH, German investigator Susanne Saussele, MD, reported her group's findings about vaccination responses in patients with a range of myeloid and lymphoid malignancies. She is Head of the CML Excellence Center III. Medizinische Klinik, Hematology and Oncology at the University of Mannheim in Mannheim, Germany.

At the 2021 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, researchers presented more data on additional risks faced by patients who have acute leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome and have become infected with COVID-19. In a key study presented at ASH, Dr. Pinkal Desai from New York's Weill Cornell Medical College has identified clinical predictors of outcome among these patients. Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin talked with Dr. Desai about her findings and clinical recommendations.

A new study provides support for high effectiveness of the Pfizer COVID vaccine against hospital admissions up until around 6 months after being fully vaccinated. The real-world, retrospective cohort study included data from 3.4 million Californian residents and was recently published in The Lancet. The importance of this Californian study is that up until now we've mainly relied on phase three study results to assess vaccine efficacy. This study (and another, even bigger one in Chile—with the CoronaVac) brings much greater statistical significance to the outcome findings and makes it possible to look at subgroups. In this episode, Lead author Dr. Sara Y Tartof, a Research Scientist Epidemiologist with Kaiser Permanente Department of Research & Evaluation in Southern California discusses the implications for vaccination programs with Oncology Times reporter Peter Goodwin.

Colleague Conversations offers insights into hematology/ oncology from two different perspectives: a seasoned hematologist/oncologist and an early-career clinician. In this installment, Oncology Times sat down with Christopher A. Jones, MD, MBA, HMDC, FAAHPM, and David Jonathan Casarett, MD, MA, FAAHPM, to discuss the relatively new field of palliative care. The discussion leads us through how the field has transformed oncology care, how palliative care physicians can address issues like racial disparities, and how telehealth is the wave of the future.

Welcome to the Oncology Times Podcast. Today on the Pod - Why do relatively few leaders live good values consistently? Why are so many people, especially in academic medicine, consumed with values that are emotion-based? We will discuss these ideas and more with Dr. Brian J. Bolwell, the Chairman of the Taussig Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner School of Medicine. Today Dr. Bolwell revisits his Oncology Times column on “Values” and outlines how to grow from an individual-focused, emotion-based values system to living with more positive values.

Welcome to the Oncology Times Podcast. Today on the Pod - Why do relatively few leaders live good values consistently? Why are so many people, especially in academic medicine, consumed with values that are emotion-based? We will discuss these ideas and more with Dr. Brian J. Bolwell, the Chairman of the Taussig Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner School of Medicine.  Today Dr. Bolwell revisits his Oncology Times column on “Values” and outlines how to grow from an individual-focused, emotion-based values system to living with more positive values.

Dr. Wendy Harpham was launching her career as a physician, happily married and loving her life with her three young children, when she was diagnosed with an incurable cancer. The life that she had worked so hard to create was suddenly gone. She knew as a physician that Hope was an important part of healing for her patients. It was only when she found herself being the patient, struggling with feelings of hopelessness, did she come to really understand the power of Healing Hope. Wendy Harpham is a doctor of internal medicine, 30-year cancer survivor and nationally recognized leader in survivorship. Her children were 1, 3, and 5 years old when she was first diagnosed with a type of cancer with no cure. Over the next 17 years, she underwent many courses of treatments – including three clinical trials—that led to her current, lasting remission. When ongoing illness forced Dr. Harpham to retire from patient care, she turned to writing and speaking to continue to educate, comfort and inspire patients. She has received numerous national awards for her 8 books and her regular column in Oncology Times.

In his recurring Oncology Times column “Straight Talk: Today's Cancer Centers,” Brian J. Bolwell, MD dispenses wisdom on how to be a better leader. In this episode, Dr. Bolwell revisits his column “Moments,” and discusses how to foster vulnerability, create psychological safety on a team, and embrace joy.

In his recurring Oncology Times column “Straight Talk: Today's Cancer Centers,” Brian J. Bolwell, MD dispenses wisdom on how to be a better leader. In this episode, Dr. Bolwell revisits his column “Moments,” and discusses how to foster vulnerability, create psychological safety on a team, and embrace joy.

Oncology Times sits down with Brian J. Bolwell, MD, the Chairman of the Taussig Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner School of Medicine. In his recurring Oncology Times column Straight Talk: Today's Cancer Centers, Dr. Bolwell dispenses wisdom on how to be a better leader. In this episode, Dr. Bolwell discusses the art of forgiveness; including how to let it go when there is conflict and breach of trust.

Oncology nurse practitioner Kelly Goodwin discusses current treatment practices at Massachusetts General Hospital, the challenges encountered treating patients with cancer during COVID-19, and the use of telemedicine in oncology care. Additional Resources Catlin N. Navigating the COVID-19 pandemic as an oncology nurse. Oncology Times 2020;42(8):1,12,17. https://journals.lww.com/oncology-times/Fulltext/2020/04200/ProtectingCancerPatientsDuringthe_Coronavirus.1.aspx (https://journals.lww.com/oncology-times/Fulltext/2020/04200/Protecting_Cancer_Patients_During_the_Coronavirus.1.aspx) Paterson C et al. Oncology nursing during a pandemic: Critical reflections in the context of COVID-19. Semin Oncol Nurs 2020;[Online ahead of print]. Abstract (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7177078/) Pelin C et al. Safety at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic: How to keep our oncology patients and healthcare workers safe. J Natl Compr Canc Netw 2020;[Online ahead of print]. Abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32294617)

Review of Monica Hubert’s Oncology Times article titled ‘Early referral, education keys to helping patients effectively manage lymphedema’

Oncology Times  Hatem Azim on how pregnancy after breast cancer is safe and possibly protective; Angela Ives on why recent -- but not current -- pregnancy worsens breast cancer prognosis; and Sibylle Loibl on how chemotherapy is not generally hazardous to the fetus. Martine Piccart adds commentary & perspective

Oncology Times Broadcast News Aromatase Inhibitor Better than Tamoxifen for Initial Adjuvant Therapy for HR- Positive Breast Cancer, But Compliance an Issue! Cornelis van de Velde at ECCO15-ESMO34 on the largest comparison of an aromatase inhibitor with tamoxifen as initial adjuvant therapy for patients with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer–analysis of results from the TEAM (Tamoxifen Exemestane Adjuvant Multinational) study reported at ECCO15-ESMO34.

Oncology Times Broadcast News Swedish Registry Study Shows Hormone Therapy for Prostate Cancer Increased All Cardiovascular Mortality Mieke Van Hemelrijck at ECCO15-ESMO34 on findings that cardiovascular mortality from heart failure and arrhythmia in addition to ischemic heart disease and myocardial infarction increased among patients treated with endocrine therapy—of whatever type—for their prostate cancer.

11th Annual Palm Beach Cancer Symposium (April 3-4, 2009 Hollywood, Florida)—Peter Goodwin interviews John Macdonald, Chief Medical Officer of Aptium Oncology in Los Angeles about his data on the relevance of KRAS tumor status to the choice of molecular therapy for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Whether the gene is wild-type or mutant determines sensitivity of the tumor to anti-epidermal growth factor or anti-vascular endothelial growth factor receptor therapy. Dr Macdonald also discusses the disappointing finding that blocking both of these proliferation pathways does not lead to improved efficacy when two targeted drugs are used in combination.

John Burn talking at ECCO15-ESMO34 in Berlin about his international study showing that aspirin prevented the development of Hereditary Non-Polyposis Colon Cancer in people genetically at risk for the disease.

11th Annual Palm Beach Cancer Symposium (April 3-4, 2009 Hollywood, Florida)—Peter Goodwin interviews Marshall Posner MD from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston about the increased prevalence of oropharygeal cancers which are related to HPV infection. These tumors may be less aggressive than cancers testing negative for HPV, and have proved more responsive to the most effective modern therapies which use docetaxel along with cisplatin and fluorouracil for induction prior to standard chemo-radiotherapy. He discusses the need for biological agents and drugs directed against the human papilloma virus which is essential for maintaining malignant phenotype and the urgency of vaccinating 12 to 24 year olds to reduce the pool of infection.

11th Annual Palm Beach Cancer Symposium (April 3-4, 2009 Hollywood, Florida)—Peter Goodwin interviews Kathy Albain, Professor of Medicine at Loyola University, Chicago, on her return from the 2009 St Gallen consensus meeting which formulated updated recommendations about adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. The 21 gene recurrence score and the 70-gene profiling assay have now been endorsed by this Swiss meeting as significant contributors to the decision making process on cytotoxic chemotherapy for patients with estrogen receptor positive disease, including both node negative and node positive early breast cancer.

11th Annual Palm Beach Cancer Symposium (April 3-4, 2009 Hollywood, Florida)—Peter Goodwin interviews Stanley H Winokur MD from Palm Beach, Florida, about his daily internet quiz that gives oncologists the chance to test their knowledge of cancer management by completing an on-line questionnaire taking only a minute. Dr Winokur discusses the role of the test—called ‘The Smartest Oncologist In America’—in helping doctors check up on how much they have learned from any source of new knowledge.

11th Annual Palm Beach Cancer Symposium (April 3-4, 2009 Hollywood, Florida)—Peter Goodwin interviews Hagop Kantarjian MD from the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston about his latest findings on treating CML in patients who have the T315I mutation. He also discusses the feasibility of patients becoming pregnant while having tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment (among those who have achieved stability for at least two years); and talks about the decreased need for allogeneic transplant.

Oncology Times Broadcast News: Stage IV Pancreatic Islet Cell Tumors: Sunitinib Monotherapy Increased Progression Free Survival Treatment of advanced pancreatic islet cell tumors with sunitinib has doubled progression-free survival in patients whose options have been very limited up to now, according to French researchers reporting their phase III randomized study findings at the World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona (24-27 June, 2009; ABSTRACT: 0-0013). Eric Raymond from Beaujon University Hospital, Villejuif, France, gave Peter Goodwin his clinical interpretation of the findings.

Oncology Times Broadcast News: Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: Capecitabine Equivalent to 5-FU in Irinotecan/Bevacizumab Combos Adding the oral drug capecitabine to a regimen of bevacizumab plus irinotecan was as effective as adding infusions of 5FU/folinic acid for patients who had metastatic colorectal cancer in a phase II study presented to the World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona (24-27 June, 2009; Abstract: 0-0013). Michel Ducreux, Head of the Gastrointestinal Service at the Institut Gustave Roussy in Villejuif, Paris, discussed the new evidence and its clinical implications with Peter Goodwin.

BARCELONA, SPAIN—Adding cetuximab to gemcitabine/oxaliplatin (GEMOX) chemotherapy controlled disease among two thirds of patients with advanced biliary cancer in a trial reported at the World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer. Éveline Boucher from the Centre Eugene Marquis, in Rennes, France, presented preliminary findings from a phase II open-label study among 101 patients who had not already received palliative treatment for their advanced biliary cancers, and had WHO performance status 0-1. She discussed her team’s findings with Peter Goodwin.

Oncology Times Broadcast News: Bevacizumab Did Not Improve Disease-Free Survival In Adjuvant Therapy For Early Colon Cancer For adjuvant treatment of stage II and stage III colorectal cancer the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor inhibitor, bevacizumab, gave no benefit in disease-free survival after a median follow up of three years when added to standard oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy in the NSABP C-O8 phase III study reported at the 2009 ASCO meeting held in Orlando, Florida . Lead author Dr Norman Wolmark MD Chair of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project, and Chair of the Department of Oncology at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, said in an interview with Peter Goodwin: "These data do not support using bevacizumab in the adjuvant setting."

Oncology Times Broadcast News For Early Breast Cancer, Switch to Aromatase Inhibitor after Tamoxifen Extends Survival Charles Coombes at ECCO15-ESMO34 on the Intergroup Exemestane Study showing a big increase in survival for patients with early breast cancer randomized to have their adjuvant therapy switched to exemestane after 2-3 years of tamoxifen, compared with those who remained on tamoxifen for the entire 5 years of endocrine therapy.

Oncology Times Broadcast News with the Audio Journal of Oncology Reporting from: 10th European Congress Perspectives in Lung Cancer, Brussels March 6-7, 2009 and Journal of Clinical Oncology Bilateral Prophylactic Mastetomy For DCIS Todd Tuttle from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and Abram Recht from Harvard Medical School and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston about the increasing use of prophylactic bilateral mastectomy, already reported in breast cancer and now revealed from the SEER database in ductal carcinoma in situ.

Oncology Times Broadcast News with the Audio Journal of Oncology Reporting from: 10th European Congress Perspectives in Lung Cancer, Brussels March 6-7, 2009 and Journal of Clinical Oncology Cancer Related Fatigue Questionnaires Assessed Paddy Stone of St George's Hospital, University of London and David Cella from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in Evanston Ilinois about the efficacy of questionnaires for assessing, screening and perhaps diagnosing cacer-related fatigue syndrome.

Oncology Times Broadcast News with the Audio Journal of Oncology Reporting from: 10th European Congress Perspectives in Lung Cancer, Brussels March 6-7, 2009 and Journal of Clinical Oncology Insulin-Like Growth Factor Inhibition In Lung Cancer Silvia Novello, and Giorgio Scagliotti from the University of Turin about harnessing insulin-like growth factor receptor inhibition in a phase II study which has shown clinical activity of figitumomab at least as significant as inhibitors of other growth factors already being used in cancer.

ONCOLOGY TIMES BROADCAST NEWS WITH THE AUDIO JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY February 2009 Peter Goodwin interviews more speakers from the 50th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting, San Francisco, December 6-9, 2008 IN THIS EDITION: Greater Role for Umbilical Cord Blood in Adult Transplants Mary Eapen, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee COMMENT: Armand Keating, University of Toronto Ex Vivo Expansion Of Cord Blood Derived Progenitor Cells: Patient Transplant Data Colleen Delaney, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle COMMENT: Armand Keating Erythropoiesis Stimulating Agents in Cancer Patients: Meta-Analysis Mortality Findings Julia Bohlius, University of Bern ON BEHALF OF: Erythropoiesis Stimulating Agents Individual Patient Data (EPO IPD) Meta-Analysis Collaborative Group COMMENTS: Linda Burns, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis George Canellos, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston Imatinib: Durable Responses And Survival in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: 7-Year IRIS Study Results; Can Imatinib Be Stopped? Stephen O'Brien, Newcastle University, England

Oncology Times Broadcast News January 9th, 2009 American Society of Hematology 2008 Meeting Report Reporting From the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, San Francisco The exciting recent ASH conference reflected the vibrant mood of an America boldly tackling economic and political turmoil with post-presidential-election optimism. Peter Goodwin and George Canellos reflect on some of the big stories and talk with key investigators in San Francisco. Francesco Zaja recounts how rituximab has proved effective for treating immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP); Hannes Wandt presents compelling data suggesting that platelet transfusions can be withheld in many patients receiving stem cell transplants for their hematologic malignancies; and both Michael Hallek and Tadeusz Robak announce Phase III study findings of improved benefits for patients whose chronic lymphocytic leukemia has been treated by adding rituximab to standard chemotherapy. The ASH President, Kenneth Kaushansky, plus Linda Burns and George Canellos contribute their comments to put the new findings into clinical perspective for the busy oncologist.

Oncology Times Broadcast News with the Audio Journal of Oncology Scientific Editors: George Canellos, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston Gordon McVie, European Institute of Oncology, Milan Pat Price, Christie Hospital, Manchester Gianni Bonadonna, Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan REPORTING FROM: National Cancer Research Institute Cancer Conference, October 5-8, 2008, Birmingham, England American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, May 30-June 3, 2008, Chicago, Illinois, Perspectives In Lung Cancer 9th European Congress, March 14-15, Torino, Italy Sarah Maxwell and Peter Goodwin report on evidence that combining monoclonal antibodies with chemotherapy can extend life among patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. Robert Pirker from the Medical University of Vienna tells Sarah Maxwell about his group's findings in the FLEX study using the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R) inhibitor cetuximab; Christian Manegold from Heidelberg Universit, Manheim gives Peter Goodwin data on the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-R) bevacizumab; while Giorgio Scagliotti from Torino University, Nick Thatcher from the Christie Hospital, Manchester and Howard Sandler from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor discuss the clinical implications of these approaches to using molecular targeting to improve outcomes in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. Michel Coleman from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine tells Peter Goodwin about the findings of the CONCORD study looking at international differences between survival rates for breast, prostate and colorectal cancers.