The development of noncovalent Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors and other advances in chronic lymphocytic leukemia treatment signify that the “future is really exciting,” says Jennifer A. Woyach, MD, professor in the Division of Hematology at The Ohio State University in Columbus. Dr. Woyach speaks with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spiel…

Given recent data, how should oncologists choose a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) in patients with EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and when should chemotherapy be introduced? “It’s better to have choices than not,” explains Paul Bunn, MD, the Dudley Chair in Cancer Research at the University of Colorado in Aurora. Dr. Bunn discuss…

The treatment of biochemical recurrence in prostate cancer “is set for rapid development over the next few years,” says Edwin M. Posadas, MD, medical director of the Center for Uro-Oncology Research Excellence at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Data from the recent EMBARK trial have changed practice for…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent accelerated approval of a tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy in metastatic melanoma “is a real milestone,” after the approach was “pending for decades,” explains Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD, deputy director at the NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center. Dr. Weber, who was part of the team to first work …

Recent advances in metastatic urothelial carcinoma have meant that optimistic outcomes are “not as much of a fairytale,” says Robert Dreicer, MD, deputy director of the UVA Cancer Center and professor of medicine and urology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville. From the recent approval of enfortumab vedotin plus pemb…

Recent approvals by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and findings from pivotal clinical trials have changed care for patients with breast cancer that has progressed after frontline hormone therapy. Ruth M. O’Regan, MD, chair of medicine and Charles H. Dewey Professor at the University of Rochester in New York, highlights which recent dev…

Recent data on the use of immunotherapy and targeted treatments in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have introduced a myriad of questions. These include controversial topics and difficult decisions, like when to incorporate CTLA-4 inhibition and what patients can expect from immuno-oncology monotherapy in the metastatic set…

Belzutifan was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in previously treated adults with advanced renal cell carcinoma. How should this drug best be incorporated into practice? Eric Jonasch, MD, professor in the Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Hous…

CDK4/6 inhibitors “have really been a game changer” in metastatic breast cancer, according to Komal Jhaveri, MD, clinical director for early drug development and section head for endocrine therapy research at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City. However, optimal treatment strategies have been complicated by a lack of head-to-head trials. Dr. …

From compelling data presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium to the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of capivasertib, 2023 saw numerous key advances in breast cancer care. Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, director of the breast cancer research program at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical …

From the use of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron-emission tomography (PET) to advancements in targeted treatments, prostate cancer care is quickly evolving. Edwin M. Posadas, MD, director of the Experimental Therapeutics Program and director of the Center for Urologic Oncology Research Excellence at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, sp…

Results of the recent EMBARK study show that both enzalutamide plus leuprolide and enzalutamide monotherapy significantly improved metastasis-free survival compared with leuprolide alone in patients with prostate cancer who have high-risk biochemical recurrence. Lead author Stephen Freedland, MD, associate director for education and training and di…

Studies involving high-risk, early-stage ER-positive breast cancer are among the most eagerly anticipated at this year’s San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), to be held Dec. 5-9. Virginia Kaklamani, MD, professor of medicine in the division of hematology and medical oncology at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center San Antonio and …

Last month, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) determined that progression-free survival (PFS) could not be reliably interpreted in a confirmatory clinical trial for sotorasib (Lumakras) used to treat KRAS G12C–mutated locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Ravi A. Madan, …

How should results of the FLAURA2 clinical trial be applied in practice? The study examined the use of osimertinib plus chemotherapy in the first-line treatment of EGFR-mutated advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared with osimertinib alone and found that progression-free survival was significantly improved with the combination treatmen…

“Therapies are improving dramatically” in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), according to Michael Wang, MD, professor in the department of lymphoma/myeloma, division of cancer medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Dr. Wang presented updates on major advances in MCL at the recent Society of Hematologic Oncology (SOHO) an…

Recent advances have provided new options for when and how best to treat patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Trials of combination strategies have shown promise in providing patients the potential for unmaintained remissions. Marco Ruella, MD, an assistant professor of medicine in hematology-oncology at the Perlman School of Medicine …

The World Conference on Lung Cancer (World Lung) will be held in Singapore, September 9–12. The current president of International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), Heather A. Wakelee, MD, division chief of medical oncology at the Stanford Cancer Institute in California, shares which presentations and findings she is most looking fo…

Updates to the American Society for Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO’s) living guidelines for therapy in patients with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with driver alterations were recently released. Dwight H. Owen, MD, MS, from The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James, examines the new recommendations that he and his team …

In early July, beloved surgeon and breast cancer advocate Susan Love, MD, MBA, died at age 75 years, after a recurrence of leukemia. Dr. Love’s legacy extends beyond the lives of her patients and into the approaches and attitudes of her fellow physicians. Stephanie Graff, MD, medical advisor to the Dr. Susan Love Foundation for Breast Cancer Resear…

HER2 inhibitors dramatically changed care for many breast cancers; however, less is known about HER3, which acts in concert with HER2. Does HER3 have the same potential to reshape treatment strategies? Erika Hamilton, MD, director of breast cancer and gynecologic cancer research at Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, talks with Bob Figlin…

Although findings have suggested that adjuvant osimertinib is beneficial in early-stage non-smallcell lung cancer (NSCLC), some concerns have persisted. Balazs Halmos, MD, MS, associate director of clinical science, and director of both thoracic oncology and clinical cancer genomics at Montefiore Einstein Cancer Center in New York, says that “all t…

How should community oncologists best approach ESR1 mutations in breast cancer, given the latest findings? Recent data presented at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting and elsewhere have shed light on issues related to ESR1 testing and treatment selection. Bob Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in hematol…

Recent results demonstrated that mRNA vaccination improved recurrence-free survival among patients with melanoma. This has led to questions about what’s next for this promising intervention. Bob Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in hematology-oncology at Cedars Sinai Cancer in Los Angeles, welcomes Jeffrey Weber, MD, PhD, deputy directo…

Within the last few years, an “explosion of data” regarding adjuvant and neoadjuvant treatment for resectable lung cancer has contained “major wins” for patient care. Although exciting, the rapid advancement has led to questions about when chemotherapy and chemoimmunotherapy should be adopted or avoided. Bob Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family …

As treatment options increase for patients with CLL, so do questions about which interventions, if any, are right for which patients and when. Bob Figlin, MD, and Nicole Lamanna, MD, discuss key considerations, ranging from cardiac toxicity to why Dr. Lamanna “won't just treat for a symptom.”

The newly opened Pragmatica-Lung trial compares ramucirumab plus pembrolizumab versus usual care for treatment of stage IV or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer. The trial is designed to ease enrollment requirements and data collection needs, focusing on the key endpoint of overall survival. Listen as study lead Karen Reckamp, MD, professor and d…

With more than 10 known driver mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), testing is ever more critical, says Heather Wakelee, MD, division chief of medical oncology at Stanford University and president of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Listen as she and Peer-Spectives host Bob Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Fam…

Treatment options are expanding quickly in early non-small cell lung cancer. Listen as Heather Wakelee, MD, division chief of Medical Oncology at Stanford University and president of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, describes how she’s using new agents and incorporating trial findings into practice. She and host Bob Figli…

After a decade of limited gains in metastatic pancreatic cancer, Zev Wainberg, MD, professor of medicine and co-director of the GI oncology program at the University of California, Los Angeles, presented the results of the NAPOLI-3 trial at the ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium last month. The data showed an improvement in overall survival an…

The landscape for breast cancer treatment is shifting quickly, with an ever-increasingemphasis on targeted and hormonal therapies. Listen as Virginia Kaklamani,MD, professor of medicine in the division of hematology oncology at UT Health San Antonio, and medical directorof the breast oncologyprogram at UT Health San Antonio, MD Anderson Cancer Cent…

Listen as Gabriela Hobbs, MD, clinical director of the leukemia atMass General, talks with Bob Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology Oncology at Cedars-Sinai Cancer in Los Angeles, about the latest progress in the treatment of myelofibrosisand how she both assesses new patients and plans their treatment. New agents, including …

Melissa Johnson, MD,a medical oncologist with Tennessee Oncology and Director of Lung Cancer Research at Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville,joins host Robert Figlin, MD, Steven Spielberg Family Chair in HematologyOncologyat Cedars-Sinai Cancer, to talk about KRAS G12C inhibition in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)treatment. She talks ab…

The key steps to launching a successful and professionally fulfilling hematology/oncology fellowship is to “reflect, project, and adapt,” according to Gerald Hsu, MD, PhD, associate clinical professor of medicine and director of the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program at UCSF. Dr. Hsu spoke with Robert Figlin, MD, to discuss how new fellows can …

Tejas Patil, MD, assistant professor of medical oncology at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, talks with Robert A. Figlin, MD, about new targeted therapies for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), particularly tepotinib (Tepmetko) for MET exon 14 and sotorasib (Lumakras) for KRAS G12C. The MET exon 14 skip mutation has attracted renewed atte…

Jonathan Cohen, MD, MS, Associate Professor, Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine, , joins OBR Editor-in-Chief Robert Figlin, MD, to talk about mantle cell lymphoma. Dr. Cohen describes the key to making a correct diagnosis and what the best frontline treatment approaches are for different patient groups. He also tal…

Bob Figlin, MD, and Toni Choueiri, MD, the director of the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discuss the early results from the COSMIC-313 trial, which Dr. Choueiri presented at ESMO 2022. The trial enrolled previously untreated patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell cancer who were classified as interm…

Bob Figlin, MD, and Jamie Von Roenn, MD, discuss strategies for learning about the oncology specialty earlier in the training pipeline, particularly for under-represented groups. They also look at opportunities for oncology fellows to build skills in different career areas.

Gerald Hsu, MD, PhD, UCSF’s hematology/oncology fellowship program director, joins Robert Figlin, MD, to talk about what fellowship programs are looking for in applicants, how trainees can find programs that are a good fit, and why preparing for an interview improves the odds you land at the right spot for you.…

Michael B. Atkins, MD, and Robert Figlin, MD, discuss results from the EVEREST clinical trial as well as new data on TKIs, immunotherapy, and HIF-2 inhibitors. They also discuss adjuvant therapy and how depth of response differs between immunotherapy and TKIs, and look ahead to what the future holds.…

Danielle Brander, MD, talks with Robert Figlin, MD, about selecting frontline treatments for CLL and how she talks with patients about their treatment options. “What I think is unique about the last few years is we’ve seen multiple randomized trials in the frontline setting that have shown not only superior progression-free survival … but several o…

William Gradishar, MD, talks with Robert Figlin, MD, about breast cancer research highlights from the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, including results from DESTINY-Breast04 and new data on CDK4/6 inhibitors from the PALOMA-2 and MAINTAIN trials.

Michael B. Atkins, MD, talks with Robert A. Figlin, MD, about the importance of sequencing therapies for patients with BRAF-positive metastatic melanoma. Data from the DREAMSeq trial, which Dr Atkins updated at the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, show a significant survival advantage at two years for patients who r…

Listen in as Roy Herbst, MD, PhD, shares with Robert Figlin, MD, how he approaches treatment for patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer after the ADAURA and CHECKMATE-816 trials. They discuss different factors that influence use of adjuvant and neoadjuvant treatments, including stage, EGFR mutation status, and PD-L1 status.…

Lori Leslie, MD, and Robert Figlin, MD, discuss the latest drugs and clinical trial data on CLL treatment. Dr. Leslie shares her strategy for sequencing agents, including various BTK inhibitors and venetoclax, and how she decides on treatment in patients whose disease progresses or are refractory.

Sapna Patel, MD, Associate Professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Robert Figlin, MD, Deputy Director at Cedars-Sinai Cancer, discuss the clinical implications of the DREAMseq trial, showing patients with BRAF-mutant metastatic melanoma live longer if they receive first-line ipilimumab plus nivolumab.…

Rana McKay, MD, Allan Pantuck, MD, and Robert Figlin, MD, discuss the recent update to the Keynote-564 study investigating adjuvant pembrolizumab in RCC and the impact on high-, medium-, and low-risk patients. They also talk about the Disease-Free Survival (DFS) endpoint, discussing the study with patients, and the recent NCCN guidelines update.…

Daniel Petrylak, MD, Professor of Medicine at the Yale Cancer Center, and Robert Figlin, MD, of Cedars-Sinai Cancer discuss recent developments at ASCO GU in muscle-invasive bladder cancer and in particular the EV-103 clinical study while also discussing the future of MIBC treatment.

Ghassan Abou-Alfa, MD and Robert Figlin, MD, discuss the presentation of the HIMLAYA clinical study at ASCO GI ’22 and how this regimen may fit in the liver cancer treatment landscape

Frederick Locke, MD and Robert Figlin, MD discuss ZUMA-7 and when to start thinking about integrating CAR-T into B-cell lymphoma treatment algorithms, the role of BMT in these patients, and how recent data presented at ASH ’21 shows that CAR-T cell therapies can work well in relapsed/refractory B-cell lymphoma.…