The Onco'Zine Brief

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks with Stephen Spellman. Stephen Spellman is Vice President and Senior Scientific Director at Be The Match and the Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR). Hofland and Spellman talk about the outcomes of a study published in Blood Advances, the journal of the American Society of Hematology. [1] The article discusses the impact of cryopreservation of hematopoietic cell grafts on overall survival (OS) and other outcomes within 1 year after hematopoietic cell transplantation. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic the National Marrow Donor Program as together with other national and international donor registries mandated the cryopreservation of hematopoietic cell grafts during the first 6 months of the pandemic because of patient and donor safety concerns. The reason was that during the early days of the pandemic, delivery of donor products after patient conditioning could not be guaranteed. This was, in part, caused by logistical complexities including travel bans, flight delays and cancellations, rerouting of couriers – as well as closed border crossings… In addition, donors were at risk of being infected with the SARS CoV-2 Virus, the virus that causes COVID-19, which, in turn, resulted in last-minute cancellations of graft collection. To solve the pandemic-related logistical problems, the authors of the study conclude that cryopreservation should be considered a method to eliminate the potential risks with the use of fresh donor graft products or when fresh grafts are not available.But what was the impact of cryopreservation on patients receiving hematopoietic cell transplantation compared to the effects among patients receiving fresh donor products? Was there a difference in overall survival, disease free survival, or disease recurrence? Was there a risk in Graft vs Host Disease? In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Hofland and Spellman talk about this and more.Reference[1] Devine SM, Bo-Subait S, Kuxhausen M, Spellman SR, Bupp C, Ahn KW, Stefanski HE, Auletta JJ, Logan BR, Shaw BE. Clinical impact of cryopreservation of allogeneic hematopoietic cell grafts during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Blood Adv. 2023 Oct 10;7(19):5982-5993. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2023009786. PMID: 37036959; PMCID: PMC10580174. [Article][Pubmed]About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco’Zine Brief is developed in collaboration with our online journal Onco’Zine, where you can find additional information and the latest news about cancer diagnosis and treatment, and cancer prevention.The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit our Patreon page, or contact the sales team.To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Support for The Onco’Zine Brief comes from the Oncology Directory and from listeners like you. Funding is also provided by Java Original Coffee and RoastMasterz.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In a new episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland talks with Ely Benaim, MD, the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President Development at SonALAsense and Mark De Souza, Ph.D, President and Chief Executive Officer of SonALAsense.SonALAsense was founded to create hope in the face of despair with Sonodynamic Therapy (SDT), a non-invasive therapy option using SONALA-001 in combination with Insightec’s MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) to treat and eradicate deadly cancers like High-Grade Gliomas (HGG) that typically require debilitating brain surgery that often leads to tumor recurrence.SonALAsense’s SDT uses SONALA-001, a proprietary formulation of aminolevulinic acid (ALA), to disrupt heme metabolism in tumor cells, increasing production of protoporphyrin, a heme precursor. From there, energy from focused ultrasound excites protoporphyrin molecules, which produce reactive oxygen species that destroy cancer cells.Recently, Hasan Syed, MD, at Children’s National Hospital published a peer-reviewed paper on the first DIPG patient treated with SONALA-001 in the Journal of Neuro-Oncology; a major milestone for this deadly and understudied childhood disease. [1]Hofland, Benaim and De Souza talk about new technologies in the treatment of difficult to treat cancers.Reference[1] Syed HR, Kilburn L, Fonseca A, Nazarian J, Oluigbo C, Myseros JS, Packer RJ, Keating RF. First-in-human sonodynamic therapy with ALA for pediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma: a phase 1/2 study using low-intensity focused ultrasound : Technical communication. J Neurooncol. 2023 Apr;162(2):449-451. doi: 10.1007/s11060-023-04269-8. Epub 2023 Apr 12. PMID: 37046110.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit our Patreon page, or contact the sales team.To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee and Roastmasterz by Java Original Coffee.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In a new episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland talks with Jeffery Auletta, MD is Senior Vice President, Patient Outcomes and Experience, National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP)/Be The Match®.Be The Match® is a global leader in bone marrow transplantation. The organization conducts research to improve transplant outcomes provide support and resources for patients, and partner with a global network.Unmet medical needEvery three or four minutes, someone in the United States is diagnosed with a hematological malignancy such as leukemia, a cancer of blood-forming tissues, including bone marrow.For many patients, their only hope for a cure is a stem cell transplant. In the program, Hofland and Auletta talk about these unmet medical needs and about the new developments exploring the use of a standardized method of assessing measurable residual disease (MRD) before allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) in patients with leukemia and how this provides valuable insight into MRD as a predictive tool to inform HCT decisions and individualize treatment to improve outcomes.Hofland and Auletta also talk about the importance of people to join and register with Be The Match® as a bone marrow donor to bring hope to people in need.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit our Patreon page, or contact the sales team.To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee and Roastmasterz by Java Original Coffee.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

 In a new episode of The Onco'Zine Brief, Peter Hofland talks with David M. Cognetti, MD, a Professor and Chair in the Department Head and Neck Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.Hofland and Cognetti talk about head and neck cancer and a novel treatment approach called Photoimmunotherapy.Head and Neck CancerAccording to the American Cancer Society, Head and neck cancer accounts for about 4% of all cancers in the United States. In the United States in 2023, an estimated 67,000 people will be diagnosed with head and neck cancer and about 15,000 patients are expected to die of the disease.Today, many cancers of the head and neck can be cured, especially if they are found early. And while eliminating the cancer is the primary goal of treatment, preserving the function of the nearby nerves, organs, and tissues is also very important.Beyond Current TreatmentPhotoimmunotherapy is a recently developed hybrid cancer therapy to treat diseases by linking specific antibodies with photosensitizers to form photoimmunoconjugates.But let’s go back to the beginning.Surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy have dominated the treatment of oncologic. These therapies aim to eradicate cancer cells but, unfortunately, do that at the expense of normal, or healthy cells/ In turn, this can lead to severe and sometimes lethal side-effects.Overall, the success of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy is measured by what we call a ‘therapeutic index.’This ‘therapeutic index’ compares the potential benefits of treatment to the potential risks associated with treatment.Unfortunately, the unintended, off-target side effects of these therapies can have profound effects on the health-related quality of life of patients.For example, both radiation and chemotherapy sometimes preferentially kill lymphocytes much earlier than cancer cells because of the increased radiation sensitivity and high proliferation rate of lymphocytes, potentially leading to dose-limiting toxicity for some chemotherapy regimens.To find a solution, researchers have developed new therapeutic strategies. And while these therapies have created an exciting new direction for the treatment of cancer therapy, there remain limitation to these novel approaches.Now, in theory, the perfect cancer therapy would both directly destroy cancer cells to minimize residual cancer cells as well as activate the local host immune response to wipe out remaining cancer cells.And while such a therapy would be highly selective for cancer cells but have minimal or no off-target effects in the tumor microenvironment.PhotoimmunotherapyAnd that’s where photoimmunotherapy comes in. Photoimmunotherapy, designed to selectively destroy target cells.The therapy that induces direct cancer killing via immunogenic cell death, thus activating the anti-cancer immune system locally in the tumor microenvironment.The specificity of this approach comes from the antibody that is designed to target an expressed antigen on the tumor surface and is conjugated to the photo-activating chemical.The safety of Photoimmunotherapy is based on the fact that the antibody–photo-absorber conjugate predominantly binds to specifically targeted cancer cells and that it is only activated in areas exposed to Near-infrared light at a specific activating wavelength.By choosing tumor-specific antigens, this therapy specifically destroys cancer cells while not or only minimally harming any adjacent normal or healthy cells, particularly tumor-infiltrating immune T cells or blood vessels. Furthermore, the photo-activating chemical is a water-soluble photo-absorbing dye without cytotoxic properties of its own.Clinical studies have shown that this combination can enhance the immune response, and, as a result, have a good effect on the treatment of residual tumor and metastatic cancer.The first human study of a Photoimmunotherapy was with ASP-1929 – which is being developed by Rakuten Medical to treat inoperable head and neck cancer.ASP-1929 is a conjugate of cetuximab, an anti-EGFR antibody plus the photo-absorber called IR700.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit our Patreon page, or contact the sales team.To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee and Roastmasterz by Java Original Coffee..Clinical trialsASP-1929 Photoimmunotherapy (PIT) Study in Recurrent Head/Neck Cancer for Patients Who Have Failed at Least Two Lines of Therapy - NCT03769506ASP-1929 Photoimmunotherapy Combined With Pembrolizumab in Patients With Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer, With or Without Metastases - NCT05265013ASP-1929 Photoimmunotherapy (PIT) Study in in Patients With Recurrent Head/​Neck Cancer - NCT05182866An Open-label Study Using ASP-1929 Photoimmunotherapy in Combination With Anti-PD1 Therapy in EGFR Expressing Advanced Solid Tumors - NCT04305795Reference[1] Kobayashi H, Furusawa A, Rosenberg A, Choyke PL. Near-infrared photoimmunotherapy of cancer: a new approach that kills cancer cells and enhances anti-cancer host immunity. Int Immunol. 2021 Jan 1;33(1):7-15. doi: 10.1093/intimm/dxaa037. PMID: 32496557; PMCID: PMC7771006.[2] Kobayashi H, Griffiths GL, Choyke PL. Near-Infrared Photoimmunotherapy: Photoactivatable Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs). Bioconjug Chem. 2020 Jan 15;31(1):28-36. doi: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.9b00546. Epub 2019 Sep 13. PMID: 31479610; PMCID: PMC7414968.Feature Image Courtesy: © 2020 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute. Used with permission.=====Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

 In this episode of The Onco'Zine Brief, Peter Hofland talks with two experts about their research and the impact the outcomes from these studies may have on the treatment of patients diagnosed with cancer.First, Hofland talks with Christopher Heery, MD.Dr Heery is a board-certified medical oncologist with primary expertise in the translational and clinical development of immunotherapies, including, but not limited to PD-L1 inhibitors, therapeutic cancer vaccines, immune suppressor modulator, adoptive NK cells, and other therapeutics.As the chief medical officer at Arcellx, he is responsible for medical oversight, clinical strategy, medical affairs, and regulatory strategy for the company’s pipeline of novel – investigational drug.In the second half of the program, Hofland talks with Srdan Verstovsek, Dr Srdan Verstovsek, MD, PhD., a Medical Oncologist and Professor in the Department of Leukemia at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, about some of the developments in the treatment of myeloproliferative neoplasm, which are types of blood cancer that begin with an abnormal mutation or change, in a stem cell in the bone marrow. These change leads to an overproduction of any combination of white cells, red blood cells and platelets – and results in a number of diseases, including: Essential Thrombocythemia (ET) Is a rare blood disease in which the bone marrow produces too many platelets;Myelofibrosis, a rare disorder in which abnormal blood cells and fibers build up in the bone marrow;Polycythemia Vera (PV) – a disease in which too many red blood cells are made in the bone marrow and, in many cases, the numbers of white blood cells and platelets are also elevated. In a new episode of The Onco'Zine Brief, Peter Hofland talks with David M. Cognetti, MD, a Professor and Chair in the Department Head and Neck Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.Hofland and Cognetti talk about head and neck cancer and a novel treatment approach called Photoimmunotherapy.Head and Neck CancerAccording to the American Cancer Society, Head and neck cancer accounts for about 4% of all cancers in the United States. In the United States in 2023, an estimated 67,000 people will be diagnosed with head and neck cancer and about 15,000 patients are expected to die of the disease.Today, many cancers of the head and neck can be cured, especially if they are found early. And while eliminating the cancer is the primary goal of treatment, preserving the function of the nearby nerves, organs, and tissues is also very important.Beyond Current TreatmentPhotoimmunotherapy is a recently developed hybrid cancer therapy to treat diseases by linking specific antibodies with photosensitizers to form photoimmunoconjugates.But let’s go back to the beginning.Surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy have dominated the treatment of oncologic. These therapies aim to eradicate cancer cells but, unfortunately, do that at the expense of normal, or healthy cells/ In turn, this can lead to severe and sometimes lethal side-effects.Overall, the success of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy is measured by what we call a ‘therapeutic index.’This ‘therapeutic index’ compares the potential benefits of treatment to the potential risks associated with treatment.Unfortunately, the unintended, off-target side effects of these therapies can have profound effects on the health-related quality of life of patients.For example, both radiation and chemotherapy sometimes preferentially kill lymphocytes much earlier than cancer cells because of the increased radiation sensitivity and high proliferation rate of lymphocytes, potentially leading to dose-limiting toxicity for some chemotherapy regimens.To find a solution, researchers have developed new therapeutic strategies. And while these therapies have created an exciting new direction for the treatment of cancer therapy, there remain limitation to these novel approaches.Now, in theory, the perfect cancer therapy would both directly destroy cancer cells to minimize residual cancer cells as well as activate the local host immune response to wipe out remaining cancer cells.And while such a therapy would be highly selective for cancer cells but have minimal or no off-target effects in the tumor microenvironment.PhotoimmunotherapyAnd that’s where photoimmunotherapy comes in. Photoimmunotherapy, designed to selectively destroy target cells.The therapy that induces direct cancer killing via immunogenic cell death, thus activating the anti-cancer immune system locally in the tumor microenvironment.The specificity of this approach comes from the antibody that is designed to target an expressed antigen on the tumor surface and is conjugated to the photo-activating chemical.The safety of Photoimmunotherapy is based on the fact that the antibody–photo-absorber conjugate predominantly binds to specifically targeted cancer cells and that it is only activated in areas exposed to Near-infrared light at a specific activating wavelength.By choosing tumor-specific antigens, this therapy specifically destroys cancer cells while not or only minimally harming any adjacent normal or healthy cells, particularly tumor-infiltrating immune T cells or blood vessels. Furthermore, the photo-activating chemical is a water-soluble photo-absorbing dye without cytotoxic properties of its own.Clinical studies have shown that this combination can enhance the immune response, and, as a result, have a good effect on the treatment of residual tumor and metastatic cancer.The first human study of a Photoimmunotherapy was with ASP-1929 – which is being developed by Rakuten Medical to treat inoperable head and neck cancer.ASP-1929 is a conjugate of cetuximab, an anti-EGFR antibody plus the photo-absorber called IR700.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit our Patreon page, or contact the sales team.To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee and Roastmasterz by Java Original Coffee.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

Antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs are a class of biopharmaceutical drugs designed as a targeted therapy for treating cancer. However, unlike chemotherapy, ADCs are intended to directly target and kill tumor cells while, at the same time sparing normal, healthy cells. Antibody-drug conjugates consist of three parts:an antibody specific to the target associated antigen,a payload (sometimes calles a warhead) designed to kill target cancer cells, anda chemical linker specifically designed to attach or link the payload to the antibody.Today, antibody-drug conjugates have widespread treatment potential in obcology and hematology, and beyond. However, safe manufacturing of these highly potent drugs requires also requires a highly skilled capable team of experts in well-controlled manufacturing facilities.In this episode of the Onco’Zine Brief, produced in collaboration with ADC Review | Journal of Antibody-drug Conjugates, Peter Hofland talks with Dr. Matthias Bucerius.Dr. Bucerius is Vice President and General Manager at MilliporeSigma. He is responsible for Contract Development and Manufacturing Organsation (CDMO) business of the company, leading a fully integrated global team with Manufacturing Operations, Commercial, Marketing & Strategy, Technology & Innovation organizations.The company is helping its clients in developing and manufacturing a variety of products, including antibody-drug conjugates.Antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs are targeted therapies that have opened new ways in targeting diseases like cancer and hematological malignancies.What is unique about ADCs is that they leverage the specific targetability benefits offered by antibodies and combine that with the high potency of small-molecule drugs. This combination makes these agents uniquely targetable therapies. And unlike traditional chemotherapy, these ADCs target tumors by delivering the attached payload to destroy cancer cells while sparing the healthy or normal cells, thereby potentially reducing negative side effects for patients.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, Download our Media Kit, or visit our Patreon page.For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine.To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee – the home of artisan roasted coffee and Roastmasterz by Java Original.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In December 2022 the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology took place in the vibrant city of New Orleans and brought together tens of thousands of participants from across the world to present and discuss the results of studies that ranged from initial hypothesis to practice-changing results.In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks to two people about their research and the impact the outcomes from these studies may have.First, Hofland talks with Thomas G. Martin, MD.Martin is the Associate Director of the University of California San Francisco Myeloma Program and Director of the Unrelated Donor Transplantation program for adults at UCSF Medical Center.Martin's research interests include developing treatments for myeloma and leukemia as well as expanding the use of bone marrow transplants. He has a special interest in umbilical cord blood transplants, and he is involved in efforts to improve outcomes for patients who have transplants from unrelated donors.In this episode Hofland and Martin talk about updated results from a Phase 1b expansion study evaluating subcutaneous administration of Isatuximab-irfc (Sarclisa®; Sanofi) by an on-body delivery system in combination with pomalidomide (Pomalyst®; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company) and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. How does subcutaneous delivery vs. intravenous administration of Isatuximab benefits patients? Hofland and Martin also talk about the results of a Subgroup Analysis of the IKEMA trial. Then, With Monica Soni, MD, Director of Specialty Care for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, the second-largest municipal health system in the United States. She is also an assistant clinical professor within the UCLA Department of Medicine. Soni is commitment to improving quality, equity and affordability in health care. In this episode Hofland and Soni talks about the results of a study in which the investigators looked at the utilization of bone-modifying agents (BMA) in the treatment of multiple myeloma, particularly among Medicaid patients. What invesrigatriors found was shocking!About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit Patreon at or contact the sales team.For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine.To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee – the home of artisan roasted coffee.Clinical trialMultinational Clinical Study Comparing Isatuximab, Carfilzomib And Dexamethasone To Carfilzomib And Dexamethasone In Relapse And/Or Refractory Multiple Myeloma Patients (IKEMA) -NCT03275285Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In the 100th episode of the Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Stephen Spellman, Vice President of Research and Senior Scientific Director of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research at the National Marrow Donor Program/Be the Match. In the program today Hofland and Spellman talk about bone-marrow transplants.The likelihood of finding a fully matched unrelated donor for a patient who needs a bone marrow transplantvaries greatly depending on a patient’s ethnic background, and that ethnically diverse patients have – historically – been at a disadvantage. However, new research shows that when donor registry models are expanded to include mismatched unrelated donors, finding access for patients may greatly improve.[1]Based on this understanding, Spellman believes that mismatched unrelated donors hold the key to erasing the gap in donor availability and deliver allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) to all patient populations.For more information about the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, please visit the organization’s website. About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit Patreon at or contact the sales team.For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine.To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee – the home of artisan roasted coffee.Reference[1] Spellman S. Is finding a Donor for All in Need of Allogeneic HCT Possible? New Modeling Says Yes – Onco’Zine on September 5, 2022. [Link to article]Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this edition of The Onco'Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D, talks with Susanna F. Greer, Ph.D. the Chief Scientific Officer of the V Foundation. In her role, Dr. Greer is a visionary ambassador of the V Foundation, who works with the foundation’s Scientific Advisory Committee to steer funding to the most promising research opportunities.An accomplished strategist, she develops and articulates priorities to enhance the V Foundation’s research portfolio, gifts, grants, and sponsorships that advance the V Foundation’s distinctive brand of cutting-edge and disruptive research.The V Foundation was founded in 1993 by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano, legendary NC State University basketball coach and ESPN commentator. The mission of the V Foundation is to funds game-changing research and all-star scientists to accelerate Victory Over Cancer® and save lives. Today the V Foundation funds research for all cancer types, at leading cancer centers and research facilities nationwide. The organization awards 100% of direct donations to cancer research and programs. The Foundation’s endowment covers administrative expenses.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit Patreon at or contact the sales team.For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine.To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee – the home of artisan roasted coffee.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

Despite availability of endocrine therapies for advanced or metastatic breast cancer, there remains a critical unmet need for more effective and convenient treatment options that improve both the patient experience and health outcomes.In today’s episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Sean P. Bohen, MD, Ph.D., the president and Chief Executive Officer of Olema Therapeutics. Olema Terapeutics is developing new treatment options designed to improve outcomes for women with metastatic breast cancer. The company’s lead investigational drug is OP-1250.This drug is a is a novel agent with combined activity as both an advanced complete estrogen receptor antagonist, and a selective estrogen receptor degrader. This approach is expected to drive deeper, more durable responses than currently available therapies.OP-1250 is currently in development as a treatment for estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (ER+/HER2- MBC), in both monotherapy and combination settings.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit Patreon at or contact the sales team.For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine.To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee – the home of artisan roasted coffee.Clinical trials- Phase 1b Combo w/ Ribociclib and Alpelisib | NCT05508906- A Phase 1 Study of Oral OP-1250 in Combination With Palbociclib in HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer Patients - NCT05266105-A Dose Escalation/Expansion Study of Oral OP-1250 in Subjects With Advanced and/or Metastatic HR+, HER2- Breast Cancer - NCT04505826Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

The annual congress of the European Society for Medical oncology or ESMO, is one of the most influential oncology meetings for clinicians, researchers, patient advocates, and healthcare industry representatives from all over the world. This year the annual Congress was held September 9 - 13, 2022 in the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris, France.In this episode of the Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D., talks with:- Eric Vivier DVM, Ph.D, senior vice president and scientific officer of Innate Pharma about anti-cancer drugs designed to harness the power of Natural Killer (NK-) Cells. During the ESMO Congress, the company presented a number of studies discussing the safety and efficacy of lacutamab in patients with relapsed/refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma that express KIR3DL2 and the design of multispecific antibodies (ANKET for antigen-specific activation of NK cells).- Daniel Teper, PharmD, MBA, co-founder, chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of Cytovia Therapeutics, a company developing Precision NK Therapeutics which may revolutionize cancer treatment. During the annual ESMO Congress, the company presented new preclinical data for its GPC3 Flex-NK™ cell engager antibody in combination with natural killer cells.- Neil H. Bander, MD, Director of Urological Oncology Research at Weill Cornell Medicine and Co-founder of Convergent Therapeutics about prostate cancer. The company is developing a therapeutic platform that is capable of targeting validated and novel cancer antigens, including the first antibodies to specifically target prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA).About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit Patreon at or contact the sales team.For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine.To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee – the home of artisan roasted coffee.Clinical trialsStudy of Lacutamab in Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma - NCT04984837Safety and Efficacy of Lacutamab in Patients With Relapse Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma That Express KIR3DL2 - NCT05321147IPH4102 Alone or in Combination With Chemotherapy in Patients With Advanced T Cell Lymphoma (TELLOMAK) - NCT03902184Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

Glioblastoma is an aggressive type of cancer that can occur in the brain or spinal cord. And while the disease can occur at any age, it tends to occur more often in older people.According to the American Cancer Society, United States, doctors diagnose between 12,000 and 14,000 patients with glioblastoma in the U.S. each year. There is currently no cure for glioblastoma. The median length of survival after a diagnosis is 15-18 months, while the disease’s five-year survival rate is around 10%.And while all glioblastomas recur, initial treatments may keep the tumor controlledfor months or even years.To improve the current standard of care, ongoing research and development is required.Earlier this year, researchers at Modifi Biosciences published a critical study in thejournalScience, validating a new oncology platform based on new classes of moleculesthat exploit tumor-associated DNA repair defects through direct cancer cell DNA modification.This approach redefines the rules on how to selectively kill cancer cells via direct DNAmodificationThe technology bypasses conventional approaches that indirectly target proteins in cancer cells and demonstrates robust anti-tumor activity in glioma, one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer, while sparing normal tissue.In the publication in Science, a new class of molecules were found to be very selective against cancer cells that lack expression of a key DNA repair protein.And approximately half of all glioblastomas and up to 80% of gliomas lack this particular protein. Furthermore. emerging research indicates that this deficiency is seen in manyother tumor types, suggesting broad applicability for this strategy in treating cancer.Based on this research, scientists at Modifi Bio are creating a new class of molecules, based on research conducted at Yale.In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Ranjit S. Bindra, MD, Ph.D., a physician-scientist at Yale School of Medicine and the co-founder of Modify Bio.Reference[1] Lin K, Gueble SE, Sundaram RK, Huseman ED, Bindra RS, Herzon SB. Mechanism-based design of agents that selectively target drug-resistant glioma. Science. 2022 Jul 29;377(6605):502-511. doi: 10.1126/science.abn7570. Epub 2022 Jul 28. PMID: 35901163.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit Onco'Zine to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon to become a Sustaining Member of the show and support the program.For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine.To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

Your annual doctors- (or wellness-) visit may not be enough to prevent diseases like cancer. Daily health and lifestyle choices are the key to cancer prevention - but what are these choices? What is important?In "It’s Time you Knew’ - The Power of Your Choices to Prevent Women's Cancer", board certified gynecological oncologist Dr Valene Wright offers simple and straightforward tools to help women listen to their own body – and in doing so take control of their own health. In this episode Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with board certified gynecological oncologist and surgeon Valene Wright, MD. In her book, Wright helps women - but also men - to make critical choices help prevent cancer. To order Dr. Wright's book, click on the link: https://amzn.to/3P5wIxlAbout The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program.For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

After checking your cholesterol, hemoglobin A1C, and glucose level during your annual wellness check, your primary care phycisian says: 'It looks like we haven't done your genome. Why don't we do that?' How would you respond? If you have a genetic mutation that increases your risk for a treatable medical condition, would you want to know? For many people the answer is yes. But typically, such information has not been a part of routine primary care.In this episode Peter Hofland PhD talks with Noelle Carbognin and Elizabeth Chao, MD, FACMG, a Medical Geneticist at UC Irvine about about Lynch Syndrome, a type of inherited cancer syndrome associated with a genetic predisposition to different cancer types, including Colorectal cancer and about various aspects of genetic testing, new technologies, including next generation sequencing technology, and the potential future possibilities and benefits of genetic testing in preventing disease.[1][2]About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program.For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Reference[1] Espenschied CR, LaDuca H, Li S, McFarland R, Gau CL, Hampel H. Multigene Panel Testing Provides a New Perspective on Lynch Syndrome. J Clin Oncol. 2017 Aug 1;35(22):2568-2575. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2016.71.9260. Epub 2017 May 17. PMID: 28514183; PMCID: PMC7186580.[2] Karam R, Conner B, LaDuca H, McGoldrick K, Krempely K, Richardson ME, Zimmermann H, Gutierrez S, Reineke P, Hoang L, Allen K, Yussuf A, Farber-Katz S, Rana HQ, Culver S, Lee J, Nashed S, Toppmeyer D, Collins D, Haynes G, Pesaran T, Dolinsky JS, Tippin Davis B, Elliott A, Chao E. Assessment of Diagnostic Outcomes of RNA Genetic Testing for Hereditary Cancer. JAMA Netw Open. 2019 Oct 2;2(10):e1913900. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.13900. PMID: 31642931; PMCID: PMC6820040.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

Research out earlier this year confirms what many doctors had feared: Cancerscreenings dropped significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic.The study, published in the February 2022 edition of Journal of the NationalComprehensive Cancer Network, examined data from the Ontario Cancer Registry inCanada. The results showed that in March 2020 the week-to-week rate of cancer diagnosis dropped by 34.3%. And this worries doctors, because over the last few decades, thecancer survival rates have improved, in part because of earlier detection of disease. [1]Doctors fear that this disruption to healthcare access may negatively impact early detection of cancers which may lead to serious problems later.Another aspect doctors worry about is that delayed diagnoses and treatments meansthat in some cases a patient’s diagnoses may not be brought to light until later stages – stage 3 and 4 – when cancer is more difficult to treat.Based on the available data, some experts predict a spike in new cancer diagnosislater this year and in 2023. The main reason, they believe, is pandemic-related, includinglockdowns and fears of the coronavirus – which cause COVID-19.In addition to early diagnosis, the pandemic also stalled, delayed, or canceled clinical trials.Based on some estimates, this impacted as many as 60% of all oncology clinical trials and biological therapies in the United States.One big question remains, what are the real implications of stalling or canceling theseclinical trials? In this episode of The Onco'Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph,D. talks with Marie E. Lamont, the general manager and chief executive officer of Inteliquet, a company that strives to match patients to clinical trials, accurately and promptly – or, in other words, the company ensures that physicians and their patients have access to the latest and best clinical trials, using decision, making technology developed by the company.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program.For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Reference[1] Eskander A, Li Q, Yu J, Hallet J, Coburn NG, Dare A, Chan KKW, Singh S, Parmar A, Earle CC, Lapointe-Shaw L, Krzyzanowska MK, Hanna TP, Finelli A, Louie AV, Look Hong N, Irish JC, Witterick IJ, Mahar A, Noel CW, Urbach DR, McIsaac DI, Enepekides D, Sutradhar R. Incident Cancer Detection During the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2022 Feb 1:1-9. doi: 10.6004/jnccn.2021.7114. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35104788.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In the past 30 years, the survival rate for breast cancer has improved by about 40%, one of the highest survival rates of any cancer. The increase in survival is, in part, due to advances in screening technology as well as improvement in cancer treatment and a better understanding of the biology of cancer. All of which have had an impact on survival.In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with talking with Stephen Malamud, MD, who is the regional director of medical oncology at Nuvance Health, a health network with hospitals, medical practices, and care centers located throughout New York’s Hudson Valley and Western Connecticut. Hofland and Malamud talk about some of the results of studies presented during the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held December 7 – 10, 2021 in San Antonio, Texas, and virtually via streaming media. For this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, the producers and editors selected just a few key presentations. In each case, Hofland and Malamud briefly discuss the study as well as how the results may improve the health-related Quality of Life (hrQoL) of patients. They also try to answer if the study results may change the way medicine is practiced.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

Cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the world, and numbers are on the rise. To respond to the growing need for therapeutic solutions, much research is needed. In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Susan Pandya, MD.Pandya is Vice President Clinical Development and Global Head of Cancer Metabolism at Servier Pharmaceuticals. She is also a board-certified Hematologist-Oncologist and a master clinician with a passion for innovation in cancer treatment. In her current role as Vice President of Clinical Development at Servier Pharmaceuticals Pandya is overseeing hematology and oncology clinical development programs. She is involved in developing novel therapeutics in rare oncology indications and is leading teams with the design, planning, and execution of Phase 1 and Phase 3 global pivotal studies. Hofland and Pandya talk about how Servier Pharmaceuticals has made oncology one of the company's foremost priorities and endeavors to become a major player in treatments for cancers that are difficult to treat and for which therapeutic needs are generally not yet met, such as gastrointestinal, hematologic, pancreatic and pediatric cancers.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program.For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland Ph.D. talks with Ellen J. Kim, MD. Kim is the Medical Director of the Dermatology Clinic at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine and Professor of Dermatology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the Lead Principal Investigator for the Phase 3 FLASH (Fluorescent Light Activated Synthetic Hypericin) study in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). This study is the largest multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, skin-directed therapy study in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, to date, enrolling a total of 169 patients.In our program today Hofland and Kim talk about the success of HyBryte™ (previously known as (SGX301); hypericin ointment 0.25%) in the broad cutaneous T-cell lymphoma patient population.HyBryte™, being developed by Soligenix, a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products to treat rare diseases where there is an unmet medical need, is a novel, first-in-class, photodynamic therapy utilizing safe, visible light for activation. The active ingredient in HyBryte™ is synthetic hypericin, a potent photosensitizer that is topically applied to skin lesions that is taken up by the malignant T-cells, and then activated by visible light 16 to 24 hours later. The use of visible light in the red-yellow spectrum has the advantage of penetrating more deeply into the skin (much more so than ultraviolet light) and therefore potentially treating deeper skin disease and thicker plaques and lesions. This treatment approach avoids the risk of secondary malignancies (including melanoma) inherent with the frequently employed DNA-damaging drugs and other types of phototherapy that are dependent on ultraviolet exposure. Combined with photoactivation, hypericin has demonstrated significant anti-proliferative effects on activated normal human lymphoid cells and inhibited the growth of malignant T-cells isolated from CTCL patients. In a published Phase 2 clinical study in CTCL, patients experienced a statistically significant (p=0.04) improvement with topical hypericin treatment whereas the placebo was ineffective. HyBryte™ has received orphan drug and fast track designations from the FDA, as well as an orphan designation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program.For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.ReferenceFLASH [Fluorescent Light Activated Synthetic Hypericin] Clinical Study: Topical SGX301 (Synthetic Hypericin) for the Treatment of Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma (Mycosis Fungoides) - NCT02448381Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Eyal Talor, Ph.D., a clinical immunologist with over 25 years of hands-on management experience in clinical research and drug development. Talor joined CEL-SCI in October 1993 and was promoted to Chief Scientific Officer in October 2009. CEL-SCI is developing a new immunotherapeutic drug for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune diseases, and infectious diseases. In today’s program, Hofland and Talor are talking about one of these agents, an investigational drug called leukocyte interleukin, or Multikine®Multikine® is currently in late-stage development and is being investigated as a possible new adjuvant therapy for patients diagnosed with head-and-neck cancer and cervical dysplasia.The published results of clinical studies, including a recently concluded Phase 3 study, are very promising in patients diagnosed with head-and-neck cancer. Patients treated with this new anticancer agent in combination with standard of care (SOC) versus standard of care alone had an overall survival benefit of 14.1% at five years. These results exceeded the predefined 10% overall survival benefit set out for the study population as a whole. About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program.For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Diane Simeone, MD, the Committee Chair and Principal Investigator and Executive Committee Chair of the PRECEDE Consortium. Simeone is also the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Professor of Surgery, Department of Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Professor, Department of Pathology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Director, Pancreatic Cancer Center and Associate Director, Translational Research, Perlmutter Cancer Center. Hofland also talks with Tom Schoenherr, the Chief Executive Officer of Ambry Genetics, one of the participating industry partners of the PRECEDE program.In today’s episode Simeone, Schoenherr, and Hofland talk about Pancreatic Cancer and a new, international collaborative initiative called The Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection or PRECEDE Consortium, which includes more than 35 leading academic medical centers across the globe. The PRECEDE Consortium wants to transform the early detection and prevention of pancreatic cancer, with the aim of increasing the 5-year survival rate from 10 percent today to 50 percent within the next 10 years In addition to academic centers, the PRECEDE Consortium includes industry partners who bring their expertise and resources in genetic testing, pathology, and imaging as well as in information technology to support the program; to determine who is at an elevated risk for developing pancreatic cancer, define that risk, and invite those with a higher risk to participate in a state-of-the-art clinical screening program. The PRECEDE Consortium analyzes and standardizes data curated through an integrated diagnostics platform called LATTICE™, a platform that runs on Amazon Web Services or AWS. LATTICE uses Amazon HealthLake, a HIPAA-eligible service that helps organizations store, transform, query, and analyze health data, and will help researchers and clinicians gain new genomic insights for detecting and preventing pancreatic cancer.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program.For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Nader Sanai, MD.Dr. Sanai is the director of the Ivy Brain Tumor Center and the director of neurosurgical oncology at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. In this episode of the program Hofland asked Sanai about Phase 0 studies – also known as micro-dosing studies – and why they are so important in the development of promising new drugs. They also talk about a potential, non-invasive treatment option for glioblastoma as well as and data Dr. Sanai presented during the annual meeting of the European Society for Medical Oncology the meeting of the European Association for Neuro-Oncology.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, developed in collaboration with ADC Review | Journal of Antibody-drug Conjugates (at www.ADCReview.com), Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with William (Bill) Newell, JD, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Sutro Biopharma (www.sutrobio.com)Sutro is a clinical-stage drug discovery, development, and manufacturing company using precise protein engineering and rational design to advance the development of the next-generation oncology therapeutics for unmet medical needs and areas where the current standard of care is suboptimal. To date, Sutro’s technology platform has led to the development of cytokine-based immuno-oncology therapies, antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs, vaccines, and bispecific antibodies.In addition to Sutro’s own pipeline of novel drugs, including STRO-001, a CD74-targeting ADC currently being investigated in a Phase 1 clinical trial of patients with advanced B-cell malignancies, such as multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and STRO-002, a folate receptor alpha (FolRα)-targeting ADC, currently being investigated in a Phase 1 clinical trial of patients with ovarian and endometrial cancers, the company is also collaborating with select pharmaceutical and biotech companies to discover and develop novel, next-generation therapeutics. Antibody-drug conjugates like STRO-001 and STRO-002, are highly targeted biopharmaceutical drugs that combine monoclonal antibodies specific to surface antigens present on particular tumor cells with highly potent anti-cancer agents linked via a chemical linker.Today there are 10 approved ADC on the market – and many more in development. And as a result, ADCs have become a powerful class of therapeutic agents in oncology and hematology. About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebriefFor more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D., talks with Mondher Mahjoubi, MD, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Board of Innate Pharma, a clinical-stage oncology-focused biotech company dedicated to improving treatment and clinical outcomes for patients through therapeutic antibodies that harness the immune system to fight cancer.Innate Pharma’s broad pipeline of antibodies includes several potentially first-in-class clinical and preclinical candidates in cancers with high unmet medical needs. The company, based in the South of France, has been a pioneer in the understanding of the biology of natural killer (NK-) cell, and has expanded its expertise in the tumor microenvironment and tumor-antigens, as well as antibody engineering. This innovative approach has resulted in a diversified portfolio and major alliances with leaders in the biopharmaceutical industry including Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, and a multi-products collaboration with AstraZeneca.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebriefFor more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D talks with Tony Polverino, PhD. In September 2918 Polverino joined Zymeworks, a clinical-stage, biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation multifunctional biotherapeutics. He currently serves as the company's Executive Vice President of Early Development and Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to joining Zymeworks, from 2015 until 2018, Polverino was at Kite Pharma, which was acquired by Gilead Sciences in 2017. Zymeworks’ lead clinical candidate, zanidatamab (ZW25), is a novel Azymetric™ bispecific antibody that has been granted Breakthrough Therapy designation by the FDA and is currently enrolling in a pivotal clinical trial for refractory HER2-amplified biliary tract cancer (HERIZON-BTC-01)[1][2][3[[4] as well as several Phase 2 clinical trials for HER2-expressing gastroesophageal and breast cancers. Zymeworks’ second clinical candidate, ZW49, is a novel bispecific HER2-targeting antibody-drug conjugate currently in Phase 1 clinical development and combines the unique design and antibody framework of zanidatamab with Zymeworks’ proprietary ZymeLink™ linker and cytotoxin. Zymeworks is also advancing a deep preclinical pipeline in oncology (including immuno-oncology agents) and other therapeutic areas.In our program today Hofland asks Polverino about his work in oncology, his work before joining Zymeworks, and the work he and his co-workers are doing at Zymeworks.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebriefFor more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Reference[1] A Study of ZW25 (Zanidatamab) in Subjects With Advanced or Metastatic HER2-Amplified Biliary Tract Cancers - NCT04466891[2] A Study of ZW25 (Zanidatamab) With Palbociclib Plus Fulvestrant in Patients With HER2+/HR+ Advanced Breast Cancer - NCT04224272[3] A Safety and Efficacy Study of ZW25 (Zanidatamab) Plus Combination Chemotherapy in HER2-expressing Gastrointestinal Cancers, Including Gastroesophageal Adenocarcinoma, Biliary Tract Cancer, and Colorectal Cancer - NCT03929666[4] A Dose-Finding Study of ZW49 in Patients With HER2-Positive Cancers - NCT03821233Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Yoav Kimchy, Ph.D. Kimchy has more than 20 years of experience in the development and management of innovative medical device companies. He founded Check-Cap in 2005 and served as the company's Chief Technology Officer.Check-Cap is a clinical-stage medical diagnostics company aiming to redefine colorectal cancer screening/ through the introduction of C-Scan®, the first patient-friendly preparation-free screening test to detect polyps before they may transform into colorectal cancer. The new screening technology is being designed to enable early intervention and cancer prevention. The capsule-based screening technology is expected to significantly increase screening adherence worldwide, and help millions of people to stay healthy through preventive colorectal cancer screening. The technology is based on an ultra-low-dose X-ray capsule, an integrated positioning, control, and recording system, as well as proprietary software to generate a 3D map of the inner lining of the colon as it travels naturally along the gastrointestinal tract. One of the benefits of the technology is that it is non-invasive and requires no sedation. And unlike other capsule technologies, it requires no preparation, allowing the patients to continue their daily routine without interruption. An important caveat is that the technology is not intended to replace a colonoscopy. In the program, Kimchy argues that at all times a positive result should be followed by colonoscopy.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebriefFor more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Leonard Farber, MD, a board-certified Radiation Oncologist, and healthcare executive. Farber is recognized for his ability to identify ground-breaking technologies and position them for success in clinical practice. He recently joined EHMET Health, an emerging medical device company with a state-of-the-art device for providing radiation as a treatment for breast cancer, Farber joined the company as the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Clinical Research. Farber also works with a large number of pioneering startups focusing on health and medicine, including establishments such as PreludeDx.In today’s program, Hofland and Farber talk about Ductal Carcinoma in Situ or DCIS and DCISionRT, the only risk assessment test for patients with this disease, that predicts radiation therapy benefit.Ductal Carcinoma in SituIn the US, over 60,000 women are newly diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ or DCIS each year, accounting for an estimated 18 – 25% of the total number of newly diagnosed breast tumors. Fortunately, DCIS is a highly curable disease with a 10-year cancer-specific survival of about 97%. Because DCIS is a "forerunner" of invasive breast cancer – and is often referred to as a pre-cancer - early diagnosis and treatment are crucial for reducing the risk of developing invasive breast cancer. Current treatment strategies include breast-conserving surgery with radiotherapy, breast-conserving surgery alone, mastectomy or observation. A recent study demonstrated that 53% of DCIS patients' risk scores were under classified and 34% were overclassified using traditional methods, resulting in overtreatment or undertreatment.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebriefFor more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Dr. William R. Stern, M.D., a board-certified gastroenterologist and Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology, at the Capital Digestive Care group outside of Washington, DC, about advancements in colorectal cancer screening. Also joining us today is Sue Spielberg, a patient of the Capital Digestive Care group. At the beginning of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness month, we talk about colorectal cancer and the prevention of this form of cancer. One of the best screening tools to help prevent colon or colorectal cancer is a colonoscopy. And colonoscopies are highly effective screening tools – considered the ‘gold standard’ - used to not only detect colon cancer, rectal cancer, and other conditions – but to actually help prevent these conditions from developing.Colonoscopies are very safe, but not completely without risk. However, and this is what every gastroenterologist, every oncologist, and in fact, every physician will tell you, … colonoscopies are done every day by experienced physicians… But more importantly… they will tell you that your chances of getting colon or colorectal cancer far outweigh the possibility of complications from a colonoscopy.In the program, Hofland, Stern, and Spielberg talk about one of the issues most patients undergoing a colonoscopy may find hard to deal with… It is what happens before the actual procedure: the preparation or prep. With the HyGIeaCare® System, physicians can offer their patients a simpler and easier bowel prep for a colonoscopy.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebriefFor more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D., talk with Ajay Nooka, MD, MPH, FACP, Associate Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, and Suzanne Trudel, MSc, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and an Attending Physician at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.Hofland, Nooka, and Trudel talk about a recently approved drug indicated for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma, a type of hematological cancer, in which patients may, initially, not notice any symptoms. But as the disease progresses, bone pain, anemia, kidney dysfunction, infections, and other symptoms may occur. There’s no cure, but treatments may slow the progression of the disease.The new drug, called belantamab mafodotin, commercially known as Blenrep®, is an antibody-drug conjugate that was approved in 2020. The drug was developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) .During the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in December 2020, a number of studies were presented, which underscore the commitment of GSK to advancing research across newly diagnosed and relapsed and/or refractory patients, and to improving the lives of patients with this type of blood cancer.These presentations included a poster presentation of the DREAMM-6 study and an oral presentation of the ALGONQUIN study, a supportive collaborative study led by the Canadian Myeloma Research Group. Both studies demonstrate the potential of belantamab mafodotin in combination with standard of care therapies and in earlier lines of treatment. About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebriefFor more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Malte Peters, MD, Chief Research and Development Officer at MorphoSys, and Peter Langmuir, MD., Vice President, Oncology Drug Development at Incyte. In our program today, which was originally recorded in August 2020, Hofland, Peters, and Langmuir also talk about the companies and the transformative therapies they have developed for patients diagnosed with Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma that has come back or that did not respond to previous treatment and who cannot receive a stem cell transplant.Hofland, Peters, and Langmuir also talk about a tafasitamab, which is branded as Monjuvi. This drug is the first drug, in combination with lenalidomide (Revlimid®; Bristol-Myers Squibb) approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the second-line treatment of adult patients diagnosed with Relapsed or Refractory Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma.Tafasitamab is a humanized CD19 targeting monoclonal antibody. The drug was approved under accelerated approval based on the overall response rate. Continued approval may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in a confirmatory trial.Diffuse Large B-cell LymphomaDiffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma is the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in adults worldwide. The disease, characterized by rapidly growing masses of malignant B-cells in the lymph nodes, spleen, liver, bone marrow, or other organs, is typically diagnosed in patients in their sixties. But that does not mean that younger patients may not get the disease.Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma is an aggressive disease, with about one in three patients not responding to initial therapy or relapsing soon thereafter. In the United States each year approximately 10,000 patients are diagnosed with the disease who cannot receive a stem cell transplant.And that means that managing relapsed or refractory Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma continues to be a challenge for the treating physicians and care team. Despite the treatment advances, approximately 40% of patients relapse or are refractory to chemotherapy, with low subsequent response rates and an associated poor prognosis, poor health-related quality of life, and a loss of life expectancy of about 5 years, compared with the general population.As a result, the disease represents a major medical need, and researchers and scientists are continuing their quest in trying to find an optimal treatment option. The combination therapy which includes tafasitamab, is expected to help reduce this need.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebriefFor more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks with Richard Schilsky, M.D.Dr. Schilsky, the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), is an oncologist who specializes in new drug development and treatment of gastrointestinal cancers. His impressive experience and many accomplishments in both clinical medicine and clinical research, reflect his deep passion for cancer medicine. As a highly respected leader in the field of clinical oncology, Dr. Schilsky has spent the majority of his career at the University of Chicago, where he joined the faculty in 1984. In 2013 he joined ASCO where he launched ASCO’s first-ever prospective clinical trial, the Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry or TAPUR Study. Dr. Schilsky also established the Center for Research & Analytics, developed a Board-approved Policy on Research Scope, set up a process to review and fulfill requests for ASCO data, built a Division of Biostatistics and Research Data Governance, and initiated ASCO’s Research Survey Pool to support surveys of ASCO members for research purposes. Being at the forefront of cancer medicine, Dr. Schilsky also worked on developing ASCO’s CancerLinQ which helped define a real-world evidence research strategy in cancer care, recognizing early on that big data can help us to learn from every patient’s cancer experience—not just from the 3% of patients who are able to participate in clinical trials.In February 2021 Dr. Schilsky will be retiring from his role of chief medical officer at the American Society of Clinical Oncology. In the interview today Hofland and Schilsky talk about progress made in the treatment of cancer.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebriefFor more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks with Pascal Touchon, President, Chief Executive Officer, and member of the Board of Directors Atara Biotherapeutics. With more than 30 years of global biopharmaceutical leadership experience, Pascal Touchon has committed his career to transform the lives of patients with serious medical conditions.Before joining Atara Biotherapeutics Dr. Touchon was Global Head, Cell & Gene and member of the Oncology Executive Committee at Novartis Oncology, where he was responsible for the global launch of Novartis’ CAR T-cell drug and expanded global CAR T-cell manufacturing and technical operations.Now, at Atara Biotherapeutics, Dr. Touchon guides the company in developing the next-generation of off-the-shelf CAR T-cell immunotherapies, using a technology platform that makes it possible to manufacture a T-cell library in advance of a patient’s specific medical needs.The company is developing a host of potentially transformative T-cell immunotherapies for cancer, autoimmune, and viral diseases, using Epstein-Barr Virus T-Cells from donors with a healthy immune function.Epstein-Barr Virus is associated with a wide range of hematological malignancies and solid tumors, as well as certain autoimmune conditions such as multiple sclerosis. Among the novel therapies the company is developing, is ATA3271, a next-generation, off-the-shelf, allogeneic Epstein-Barr Virus CAR T-cell therapy targeting mesothelin, a cell surface antigen that is strongly expressed in mesothelial cells and is highly expressed in pancreatic cancers, ovarian cancers, mesotheliomas, and some other cancers. The investigational drug is designed for the treatment of solid tumors. Earlier this year, during the 35th annual meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) the company presented favorable findings from in vitro and in vivo evaluation of ATA3271During the upcoming 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), being held virtually from December 5th through 8th this year, pre-clinical data of another investigational agent, ATA3219, will be presented. The available data shows that ATA3219 demonstrates efficient targeting of CD19-expressing tumor cells, both in vitro and in vivo In the interview today, originally recorded in June 2020, Hofland and Touchon talk about the company and the transformative therapies being developed for patients diagnosed with solid tumors, hematologic cancers, and autoimmune disease.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebriefFor more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks with Peter Keeling about Personalized Medicine, diagnostic testing, and the effect of Covid-19 on cancer and cancer diagnostics. Hofland and Keeling also talk about the world’s first Diagnostic Network for Precision Medicine.Peter Keeling is the chief executive officer and Founder of Diaceutics. Since its founding, the company has built the world’s largest repository of diagnostic testing data with a growing network of 2,500 laboratories in 51 countries.The company recently launched the world’s first digital diagnostics platform solution. Diaceutics has launched this new platform – called --The Diagnostic Network® ---to help solve the many problems that exist today within the patient diagnosis process.A proper diagnostic test is an essential step to ensure that a patient receives the most effective treatment.Correctly diagnosing also leads to efficiently managing a patient’s disease, which, in turn, results in improved healthcare outcomes. In contrast, the failure to diagnose a condition correctly can reduce the possibility of a good healthcare outcome and limit a patient's ability to fully recover.Diaceutics’ network has been designed to accelerate the end-to-end development and commercialization of precision medicine diagnostics. But more importantly, the platform is designed to get every patient the treatment he or she deserves.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebriefFor more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland Ph.D., talks with Raj Malik M.D. and Robert Epstein M.D.Malik is Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President, R&D, at G1 Therapeutics. He leads the company’s clinical development, medical affairs, regulatory affairs, biometrics, translational medicine and preclinical teams. Epstein is an epidemiologist with extensive expertise in pharmaco-economics and health outcomes research. He served in academia and public health prior to joining the private sector and is currently the Chief Executive Officer and co-Founder of Epstein Health, providing strategic consultancy services to life sciences companies Hofland and his guests talk about the burden of Chemotherapy-induced Myelosuppression (CIM), which is also referred to as Bone Marrow Depression. [1] Chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression is a common side effect of chemotherapy. It generally ranges from mild to severe. Severe cases of myelosuppression, referred to as myeloablation, can be fatal.As a result, the side effects of chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression remain a major source of concern for both patients and health care providers. And the consequences include anemia, thrombocytopenia, and neutropenia, all of which can cause severe complications, and limit the ability of patients to receive chemotherapy on time and at standard-of-care doses. [1]Chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression is one of the most common dose-limiting complications of cancer treatment and is associated with a range of symptoms that can significantly impact patients’ health related quality of life. Despite the current availability and use of various supportive care interventions, chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression places a substantial burden on patients with advanced solid tumors, impacting many aspects of their daily livesBreakthrough TherapyIn the program today Hofland and his guests also talk about G1 Therapeutics first-in-class FDA-designated "Breakthrough Therapy" designed to improve outcomes for people with cancer who are treated with chemotherapy and we talk about myelopreservation which may reduce chemotherapy-related toxicity, making chemotherapy safer and more tolerable, and also reduce the need for rescue interventions that address the effects of myelosuppression, such as growth factors or blood and platelet transfusions.Data from a study published earlier this year in advances in therapy highlights that despite the various methods used to address chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression, and the patient-focused approach of oncologists, the real-world impact of chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression on patients is substantial. Based on the results of the study, the authors conclude that improving communication between patients and health care providers may help improve patients’ understanding of chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression and foster shared decision-making in terms of treatment. For more information about chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression and GI Therapeutics visit the company’s web site at https://www.g1therapeutics.com/ About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebriefFor more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.References[1] Epstein, R.S., Aapro, M.S., Basu Roy, U.K. et al. Patient Burden and Real-World Management of Chemotherapy-Induced Myelosuppression: Results from an Online Survey of Patients with Solid Tumors. Adv Ther 37, 3606–3618 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12325-020-01419-6Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks with Peggy Berry, Vice president of Global Regulatory Affairs at Rakuten Medical.*Rakuten Medical is developing a technology platform called Illuminox™ which is based on a cancer therapy called Near Infrared Photoimmunotherapy. This technology was originally developed by Hisataka Kobayashi, M.D., Ph.D. and his team at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the United States. [1]Rakuten Medical’s first investigational drug, based on it’s Illuminox™ platform technology, is called cetuximab saratolacan (previously known as ASP-1929 and RM-1929).Cetuximab saratolacan is an antibody-dye conjugate which includes the antibody, cetuximab (Erbitux®; Eli Lilly and Merck Serono) and a near-infrared, water-soluble, silicon-phthalocyanine derivative, photosensitizer or light activatable dye called IRdye700DX (IR700).The antibody-dye conjugate specifically targets the epidermal growth factor receptor or EGFR, which is broadly expressed in tumors such as head and neck cancer, gastric cancer, prostate cancer, lung and pancreatic cancers as well as glioblastoma.[2]The investigational agent has a unique mechanism of action. After cetuximab saratolacan is administered and binds to EGFRs on tumor cells, the drug is locally activated with non-thermal red light using a device laser system (called BioBlade® Laser System), which is the medical device used in the combination with cetuximab saratolacan. Pre-clinical data shows that following activation, cetuximab saratolacan induces rapid cell membrane disruption of the targeted cancer cells, leading to cell necrosis, and immune-o-genic cell death. Pre-clinical data also shows that cetuximab saratolacan can also induce innate and adaptive anti-cancer immune responses. Rakuten Medical is currently conducting a global Phase III multi-center clinical trial with cetuximab saratolacan to evaluate the efficacy and safety in patients with recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.In this program we talk about the platform technology and the regulatory aspects of developing this novel approach. We also talk about clinical trials, trial recruitment and real-world data.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebriefFor more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Note* Previously know as Aspyrian TherapeuticsReferences[1] Kobayashi H, Choyke PL. Near-Infrared Photoimmunotherapy of Cancer. Acc Chem Res. 2019 Aug 20;52(8):2332-2339. doi: 10.1021/acs.accounts.9b00273. Epub 2019 Jul 23. PMID: 31335117; PMCID: PMC6704485.[2] Baselga J. Why the epidermal growth factor receptor? The rationale for cancer therapy. Oncologist. 2002;7 Suppl 4:2-8. doi: 10.1634/theoncologist.7-suppl_4-2. PMID: 12202782.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Anthony Yanni, M.D., Senior Vice President, patient-centricity at Astellas. In this role, Yanni is responsible for leading the development and execution of Astellas’ global patient-centricity strategy. To understand patient centricity, consider the fact that 10 years ago, patient-centricity wasn’t even a concept – In most cases, drugs were developed if scientists could achieve innovation, without considering if companies should actually develop a medicine based on the real-world unmet medical needs and the perspectives of the patient. And while ‘patient-centricity’ has become an industry’s catchphrase, not everyone has the same understanding of its true meaning. The concept of 'patient-centricity' comes from the United Kingdom’s National Health Service -idea of “no decision about me, without me.”But 'Patient-centricity' is more than a catchphrase. In the most advanced form, it is about the meaningful use of insights from patients - to support the development of health solutions, including the development of novel therapeutics.The essence of patient-centricity requires companies to have a 'listening ear' – to listen to the patient, to listen to what they think and understand – and really understand what they mean. According to a number of peer-reviewed studies patient-centricity – and with that - increased engagement with patients and providers leads to better care, decreased levels of disease, and a decrease of overall health-related expenses. In this process Information is essential. Information may help all participants involved in this process to have a better understanding of a particular disease and the individual, unmet medical needs of the patient.If patient-centricity is to succeed, engaging with the patient at a much earlier stage than has traditionally been the case may be essential. For example, patients, patient advocates, and their organizations may help in the drug development phase, including clinical trial design.By doing so, pharma – and in its wake the entire life sciences industry - can then leverage the patients’ expertise and detailed knowledge of their own disease and their own medical history to provide more effective patient-centric care. In his role as Senior Vice President and Head of Patient Centricity at Astellas, Yanni is responsible for leading the development and execution of the company’s global patient-centricity strategy. In that capacity, he helps guide the company to really understand the patient journey in a real-world setting - along with the continued development of a patient-focused corporate culture.In his view, medicine is more than a novel drug: “At the end of the day,” Yanni notes, “we are not here to treat a patient – we’re here to care for a person. Having a conscious awareness of that person in every activity, from every area of the company, every single day, ensures we will create truly meaningful innovations.”More than ever before, there is a need for meaningful innovation that can ease the challenges and worries patients and their caregivers have. And this is particularly so amid the current COVID-19 pandemic. In their process of listing to the patient, Astellas Oncology, years ago, established the Changing Cancer Care or C3 Prize.This prize is more than a listening exercise. It’s an effort to foster innovation in cancer care beyond medicine and change the entire experience for patients, caregivers, and loved ones. The C3 Prize is open to anyone with a great idea to change cancer care. Past winners have developed charity initiatives, patient education programs, apps, augmented reality experiences, and other programs aimed at changing the overall experience of cancer care. Any idea that can have an impact, especially if it is simple – is welcome.This year, Astellas Oncology is looking for ideas beyond medicine that can bring solutions to everyday challenges facing people with cancer, including concepts that can ease the increased burden of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer care and health disparities affecting patients and caregivers. The program will award U.S. $ 200,000 in grants and resources to help winners further develop and advance their ideas.The award is open to anyone with a great idea – past winners included patients and their caregivers, healthcare providers, business leaders, and more. The C3 Prize is a global initiative and past prize winners included participants from Nigeria, Europe, the United States, Australia, and other countries.To learn about past winners, go to https://www.c3prize.com/winning-ideas To learn more and apply go to www.C3Prize.com - Applications to participate are open now until September 28, 2020About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebriefFor more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D., talks with Tim Blauwkamp, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Karius.Karius, based in Redwood City, CA, has developed a non-invasive liquid biopsy, a blood test, called the Karius Test®. The test is based on next-generation sequencing of microbial cell-free DNA and can rapidly detect pathogens causing serious infections, including those diseases that are difficult to diagnose through conventional methods. The test can identify and quantify over 1,000 clinically relevant pathogens, including bacteria, DNA viruses, fungi, and parasites. The test can be used to identify infections related to complicated and atypical pneumonia, infections in immunocompromised patients including invasive fungal infections, viral infections and neutropenic fever, and endocarditis and other cardiovascular infections.In the right patient population, the test is faster than conventional culture-based diagnostics and eliminates traditional diagnostic methods for deep-tissue infections, which may require a diagnostic surgical procedure.But overall, the test helps clinicians make rapid, treatment decisions.And this is especially important for infectious disease diagnostics in immunocompromised patients, including patients with cancer.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year, about 650,000 cancer patients receive chemotherapy in an outpatient oncology clinic in the United States. And while chemotherapy is important for the treatment of cancer and hematological malignancies, it may also lead to a condition known as neutropenia, a dramatic reduction of white blood cells. These cells, called leukocytes, include B-cells, T-cells, and NK- or natural killer - cells. They are designed to help fight infections. But when their numbers are reduced by cancer therapy, infections may develop easier and are harder to control.Infections may make treating cancer more complicated. When infections develop, the medical team needs to eradicate the infection before they can start another cycle of chemotherapy or radiation therapy or perform any surgical procedures. Preventing or eradicating infection is vital to continuing a patient’s cancer-targeted therapy. A complicating factor is that the medical team must also be on the lookout for side effects caused by the medications they use to treat the infection in patients who are already dealing with side effects related to their cancer therapy.Without a doubt, patients receiving chemotherapy are at a higher risk of developing infections. In turn, these infections may lead to hospitalization, disruptions in chemotherapy schedules, and even death.The CDC estimates that about 60,000 cancer patients are hospitalized with infections every year in the United States. In fact, infections remain a primary cause of severe morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. In some cases, even more so than the morbidity caused by cancer itself.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebriefFor more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comTo sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D., talks with Vince McRuiz and Margo Shoup, MD, FACS.Margo Shoup is a nationally recognized surgical oncologist who specializes in gastrointestinal cancers and sarcomas. She is also the senior vice president, and system chair of the Nuvance Health Cancer Institute, where she provides strategic and clinical leadership for all aspects of Nuvance Health’s cancer services. Vince McRuiz is a patient of Dr. Shoup.In March 2020 just as the COVID-19 pandemic was ramping up in the northeastern United States, Vince was diagnosed with a retroperitoneal sarcoma — a rare abdominal cancer —that develops in the lining of the abdominal wall and the soft tissues that surround the kidneys, pancreas, and blood vessels. Vince needed surgery to remove the tumor. But removing this kind of cancer requires one of the most complex types of surgery. And while a diagnosis of cancer alone can be daunting, what if the cancer is rare and you’re diagnosed during a pandemic? In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Hofland talks about that experience with Vince McRuiz, a father of three and grandfather of four, who has experienced several health and personal challenges over the past several years. In 2013 Vince was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and in 2019 he underwent major colon surgery, which required a three-week hospital stay. In 2018, Vince also lost his wife, Cynthia, to complications from Parkinson’s disease.And, then, in March 2020, during a routine CT scan to follow up on the colon surgery, doctors discovered a mass in Vince’s abdomen. Biopsy results confirmed that the mass was malignant. About retroperitoneal sarcomaThe retroperitoneum is the space between the peritoneum and the posterior abdominal wall that contains the kidneys and associated structures, the pancreas, and part of the aorta and inferior vena cava.According to the American Cancer Society, 15% of all diagnosed soft tissue sarcomas arise in the retroperitoneum. And approximately one-third of malignant tumors that arise in the retroperitoneum are sarcomas. With approximately 8,600 patients diagnosed each year in the United States, representing less than 1% of all newly diagnosed malignancies, soft tissue sarcomas, including retroperitoneal sarcoma, are considered rare.The most common types of retroperitoneal sarcomas diagnosed in adults are liposarcomas, leiomyosarcomas, and malignant fibrous histiocytomas. Patients diagnosed with retroperitoneal sarcoma are often diagnosed in later stages with advanced disease because these tumors arise in the large potential spaces of the retroperitoneum where they can grow very large without producing symptoms.Furthermore, because retroperitoneal sarcoma is a rare disease in an anatomically complex location, evaluation, and treatment is challenging. The overall survival rates of patients are affected by the tumor size on presentation, the inability to achieve wide surgical margins, and the limitations of treating retroperitoneal sarcoma with radiation and chemotherapy.After surgery patients are scheduled for quarterly follow-up CT scans to make sure they are healing well and to determine if additional treatment is required.About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcast and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebriefFor more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Armon Sharei, Ph.D. Chief Executive Officer of SQZ Biotech, about the development and manufacturing of cell therapies. Traditionally, the foundation of cancer treatment included surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. But over the last few decades, targeted therapies —drugs that specifically target molecular changes seen primarily on cancer cells—have become a standard treatment for many cancers.In addition, over the past several years, immunotherapies—therapies that are designed to use the power of a patient's own immune system to attack cancer, have emerged as a new treatment.One of the rapidly emerging immunotherapy approaches is called adoptive cell transfer. It is based on collecting and using patients' own immune cells to treat their cancer. Although there are several types of these therapies, one approach that has advanced the furthest in clinical development is called Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapy or CAR T-cell therapy.In 2017, as the result of the remarkable responses seen in some patients—both children and adults— two CAR T-cell therapies were approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States.One treatment was approved for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and the other for adults with advanced lymphomas. But given the unique and personalized approach, the Manufacturing of cell therapies is expensive and complex. One reason is that because CAR T-cell therapies are hyper-personalized - using a patient’s own T-Cells - it may take 3 – 4 weeks, and sometimes even longer - to manufacture such a personalized and unique treatment option. And the manufacturing comes with a high price tag. So, scientists started to look for alternatives.Scientists at SQZ Biotech - a privately-held clinical-stage company are developing transformative cell therapy candidates for patients with cancer and other serious diseases. Hofland talks with Sharei about SQZ Biotech’s cell engineering platform which was named as a top 10 world-changing technology by Scientific American in 2014.SQZ Biotech’s approach could provide treatment options for patients across many different diseases, including, but not limited, to cancer and hematological malignancies. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Christian Massacesi, MD, Senior Vice President, Head of Late Development Oncology R&D at AstraZeneca and with Jeffrey Skolnik, MD, Vice President, Clinical Development at Inovio Pharmaceuticals about new data and exciting developments both companies are presenting during the 2020 virtual annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology – ASCO.This year, amidst the SAR-CoV-2 or coronavirus pandemic, the ASCO organization has been hard at work to offer a unique scientific program for oncology professionals, patient advocates, and industry representatives.In the program, Hofland and Massacesi talk about AZD9833, a drug in clinical development for the treatment of women with ER+ HER2- advanced breast cancer. They also talk about a drug AstraZeneca is developing for the treatment of Tripple Negative Breast Cancer… and a potential treatment for a very uncommon form of lung cancer … and, last but not least, they talk about the company’s partnerships with Daiichi Sankyo in developing a very targeted drug – an Antibody-drug Conjugate or ADC – called Trastuzumab Deruxtecan - for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive advanced gastric cancer – and other HER2-positive cancers. In the second part of the program, Hofland talks with Jeffrey Skolnik about the DNA medicines Inovio Pharmaceuticals is developing to potentially treat and protect people from serious diseases, including life-threatening diseases associated with HPV, cancer, and infectious diseases.They talk about the company’s presentations during ASCO, including data about their HPV treatment and novel treatment for Glioblastoma or GBM, a hard to treat form of brain cancer. They also talk about the complexity of conducting clinical trials during the coronavirus pandemic and how the pandemic is impacting the clinical trial process.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland talking with Helen Sabzevari, the president of Precigen. Precigen is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and clinical-stage development of the next generation of gene and cell therapies using precision technology. The company is developing novel therapeutic agents that are designed to target the most urgent and difficult diseases in immuno-oncology, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases.During the second part of the virtual meeting of the American Association of Clinical Research – AACR - being held June 22 to June 24, 2020, the company presented preclinical results of an investigational drug called PRGN-3005 which is being developed for the treatment of patients with advanced, recurrent platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.And there is a large unmet medical need for these patients.Worldwide, nearly 300,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer every year with approximately 22,000 of them in the US. Since early ovarian cancer is often without obvious symptoms, the disease is frequently diagnosed at an advanced stage where cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, such as the liver or lungs. Five-year survival rates depend on stage and type of ovarian cancer with rates decreasing for advanced-stage cancers that have spread to distant parts of the body.  The novel drug being developed by Precigen is a new kind of CAR T-cell therapy.CAR T-cell therapy is a form of immunotherapy that uses specially altered T cells — a part of the immune system — to fight cancer. Traditionally a sample of a patient's T cells are collected from the patient’s own blood, then modified to produce special structures called chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) on their surface. When these CAR T cells are reinfused into the patient, the new receptors enable them to latch onto a specific antigen on the patient's tumor cells and kill them.In addition to the standard CAR-T-cell therapies which are approved and commercially available in the United States, different forms CAR T-cell therapies have been developedThis includes the so-called ‘off-the-shelve’ CAR T-cell – which are in clinical development. In our interview today, we talk with Helen Sabzevari about Precigen’s approach in the development of their CAR T-cell therapy, which is unique and different from the traditional and the ‘off-the-shelve’ approach.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this episode of The Onco'Zine Brief, Peter Hofland talks with Thorsten Sperber, Global Head Medical Affairs at Immunomedics. Hofland and Sperber talk about sacituzumab govitecan, a novel antibody-drug conjugate. At the time of the interview, the drug was not yet approved, but in the weeks following the interview, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved sacituzumab govitecan (Trodelvy™) for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (mTNBC) who have received at least two prior therapies for patients with relapsed or refractory metastatic disease.Sacituzumab govitecan, previously known as IMMU-132, is Immunomedics’ lead product and the most advanced program in the company’s unique antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) platform. The drug binds the humanized anti-trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2 (Trop-2) monoclonal antibody (mAb) hRS7 IgG1κ through the cleavable CL2A linker to the anti-cancer drug SN-38 to kill cancer cells. Trop-2 is expressed in more than 85% of all cancers, including breast cancer and TNBC.With the FDA’s decision, sacituzumab govitecan is the eight approved and available ADCs reaching the market, making these targeted drugs a powerful class of therapeutic agents in oncology and hematology.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

Struggling in the heat and humidity of the summer of 2016, Terri Conneran believed that her asthma was uncontrolled. In August that year, her physician assistant prescribed her a preventive inhaler. That autumn brought the excuse of allergies, plus time for the new inhaler to take effect. By Christmas 2016, nasal congestion, and a heavy feeling chest with shortness of breath it was time to again see her doctor. Hearing fluid in her lungs, an x-ray showed a mass with fluid. Pneumonia was diagnosed, a return appointment was scheduled for two weeks later. In the first week of 2017, the wheezing and congestion worsened. Already concerned about the mass shown in the x-ray, a CT scan was ordered. Terri scheduled an appointment with a pulmonologist. Based on the initial CT results, the pulmonologist confidently stated this is unlikely cancer. To be certain, a PET plus biopsy was necessary. Late in the evening of the following Friday, the pulmonologist called with the results. The diagnosis: non-small cell lung cancerTo think of the call, Terri recalls that it still feels surreal hearing those words of the pulmonologist. She exactly remembers where she sitting as I wrote the words he doctor spoke on the paper in front of her.The call forever changed her life - It would be the beginning of her journey as a cancer patient and patient advocate.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this episode The Onco’Zine Brief, recorded during the 42nd San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) held December 10 – 14, 2019 in San Antonio, Texas, Peter Hofland talks with Susan Rafte, a 25+ year survivor of metastatic breast cancer and patient advocate.In 1994, eight and a half months after birth to her daughter Marika, Susan Rafte, only 30 years old, was diagnosed with stage III ductal carcinoma.While she was pregnant with her daughter, she first felt a lump in her breast. Her doctors attributed the lump to her pregnancies. However, 18 months later, when Rafte pushed for a biopsy, the lump was diagnosed as a malignant tumor. Rafte was treated at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, by a multidisciplinary care team with chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy.In 1995, soon after her initial treatment, Susan’s sister Jane Weiner, and three other dancers in New York City co-founded the Pink Ribbons Project®. After her recovery from a stem cell transplant in 1997, Jane and Susan brought the project to Houston. The Pink Ribbons Project® was the first arts and dance initiative founded solely to promote awareness about breast cancer and help raise funding for breast cancer advocacy and education. And over the Pink Ribbons Project’s lifetime, the organization raised more than US $ 6,000,000 for that cause.Beyond the Pink Ribbons Project and from the beginning of her diagnosis, Rafte has always been public about her disease. She felt it was important to spread awareness and provide education about breast health and breast cancer, because, as she explains: “I knew from personal experience that this disease has no boundaries.”As part of her work Rafte became a peer-to-peer support volunteer through MD Anderson Cancer Center. In 2000, Rafte helped start an on-site peer support program at the breast cancer center at MD Anderson Cancer Center. She also serves on many research projects and committees as a patient advocate.As a volunteer, Rafte’s involvements also includes dividing her volunteer hours with the Baylor College of Medicine, San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Breast Health Collaborative of Texas as well as the affiliations she holds with The Rose Diagnostic Center and Harris County Hospital Clinic – Breast Care Centers.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief, recorded during the 42nd San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), held December 10 - 14, 2019 in San Antonio, Texas, Peter Hofland talks with leading breast cancer experts, and patients about metastatic breast cancer and health related quality of life hrQoL issues including sexual intimacy, bone health and joint pain. In this roundtable, panelists will also discuss liquid biomarkers for disease progression in the metastatic setting.The expert panel includes;- David Portman, MD, founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sermonix Pharmaceuticals. Portman is a respected Key Opinion Leader (KOL) in the field, presented clinical data at national and international conferences, and published dozens of peer-reviewed papers in the field of menopause, VVA, SERMs and sexual health. Before founding Sermonix in 2014, Portman was founder and director of the Columbus Center for Women’s Health Research for 18 years where he conducted over 140 clinical trials in women’s health. He received his BA from Northwestern University and his MD and Obstetric and Gynecology residency from The Ohio State University College of Medicine where he is an adjunct instructor.- Kelli Davis, metastatic breast cancer patient and director of social media at Metavivor. Davis, is an outspoken advocate on behalf of women living with the disease, was diagnosed with stage I breast cancer in 2009 and stage IIIc in 2013. She learned she had stage IV, or metastatic, breast cancer in late 2014.- Stephanie L. Graff, MD, director of the Breast Cancer Program at Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute at HCA Midwest Health and associate director of the Breast Cancer Research Program at Sarah Cannon Research Institute. Graff, an award-winning writer and social media influencer, has broad experience as a principal investigator on numerous clinical trials. She received the Frist Humanitarian Award for her work improving the lives of people in her healthcare community, and serves on the boards of the American Cancer Society Kansas/Kansas City Area and The Research Foundation.- Kelly Shanahan, MD, an Ob/Gyn, Metavivor board member, metastatic breast cancer patient and advocate. Shanahan is a wife, a mother, a daughter, a doctor, a woman living with metastatic breast cancer. She is also an outspoken advocate. Metastatic breast cancer stole her career and through the horrible diagnosis, she was introduced to amazing women and men who showed her that she, as a trained physician, could still help others and make a difference through advocacy.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks with Catherine Ivy, the Founder and President of the Ben & Catherine Ivy Foundation. The Ben & Catherine Ivy Foundation, established in 2005, is the largest non-government organization supporter of brain tumor - including glioblastoma (GBM) - research in the world. To date, the Ivy Foundation has funded clinical trials and basic science in North America, Europe, and Asia.  Glioblastoma, also known as glioblastoma multiforme, is an aggressive type of cancer that can occur in the brain or spinal cord. Glioblastoma forms from cells called astrocytes, that support nerve cells. The disease can occur at any age, but tends to occur more often in older adults. Glioblastoma can cause worsening headaches, nausea, vomiting and seizures. It can be very difficult to treat and a cure is often not possible. Catherine Ivy, is a tireless advocate for glioblastoma patients everywhere.  Since 2005, the Ivy foundation has committed more than US $ 92 million to brain tumor research. The expectation is that this investment will, in time, lead to an eventual cure. The Ivy Foundation is dedicated to this effort because funding leads to answers, and answers lead to hope.Ivy Foundation-supported research is always patient-focused and highly translational.  The organizational philosophy is to embrace risk, advocate collaboration, and fiercely support the brain tumor patient community.  This forward-leaning strategy reflects the ideals of both Ms. Ivy and her late husband, Ben, who died from a glioblastoma in 2005.  In this interview with The Onco'Zine Brief, Catherine Ivy tells the story of her husband, Ben Ivy, who was diagnosed with glioblastoma in August 2005. In addition to his devastating diagnosis, Ben’s suffering made a difficult situation overwhelmingly painful – Ben Ivy passed away four months after being diagnosed, in November 2005. Ben and Catherine Ivy felt it was important to give back to their community and they’ve always actively supported education and healthcare. Following Ben’s death, the Ben and Catherine Ivy foundation refocused its mission to find a cure for brain cancer.  Catharine Ivy explained that her husband’s suffering and the awareness of the lack of options to fight brain cancer motivated her to find better diagnostics and to develop new therapies to help patients.And that’s what she did.The mission of the Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation is to fund brain cancer research in order to develop diagnostics and treatments that lead to long-term survival and a high quality of life for patients with this disease. More information about the Ben and Catherine Ivy FoundationFor more information about the Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation, visit the website of the organization at: www.ivyfoundation.org About Onco'ZineThe Onco’Zine Brief is developed in collaboration with the online journal, Onco’Zine at oncozine.com - where you can find additional information and the latest news about cancer, cancer diagnosis and treatment, and cancer prevention.How to support The Onco'Zine BriefFor more information about supporting The Onco’Zine Brief, check our online journal Onco’Zine at Onco’Zine.com or visit Patreaon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebriefNewsletterIf you’re living in the United States and want to receive our Newsletter, text the word CANCER to 66866 - and we’ll make sure that you’ll receive our newsletter which includes an overview of the latest news in oncology and hematology.Read more- Hofland P. First-in-human Study to Determine Effectiveness of Novel, Non-invasive Therapy for Brain Cancer. Onco'Zine. November 21, 2019. Online: https://www.oncozine.com/first-in-human-study-to-determine-effectiveness-of-novel-non-invasive-therapy-for-brain-cancer/- Hofland P. New Breast Cancer Drug has the Potential to be a Novel Therapy for Glioblastoma. Onco'Zine, July 25, 2019. Online: https://www.oncozine.com/new-breast-cancer-drug-has-the-potential-to-be-a-novel-therapy-for-glioblastoma/- Nader Sanai, MD, FAANS, FACS. As New Drugs Lag, Accelerated Clinical Trials Lead Charge in Brain Cancer Fight? Onco'Zine. April 12, 2019. Online: https://www.oncozine.com/as-new-drugs-lag-accelerated-clinical-trials-lead-charge-in-brain-cancer-fight%ef%bb%bf/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks with Dr. Muhammed Murtaza and Dr. Thomas Slavin about liquid biopsies Murtaza is Assistant Professor and co-Director of the Center for Noninvasive Diagnostics at TGen in Phoenix, AZ, and Dr. Slavin is Assistant Clinical Professor, Departments of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research and Population Sciences, Division of Clinical Cancer Genomics at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, California.Hofland talks with Murtaza and Slavin specifically about a test called TARDIS — which stands for TARgeted DIgital Sequencing. This test, according to a study published earlier this year, is as much as 100 times more sensitive than other blood-based cancer monitoring tests. TARDIS is a “liquid biopsy” that specifically identifies and quantifies small fragments of cancer DNA circulating in the patient’s bloodstream, known as circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). About Onco'ZineThe Onco’Zine Brief is developed in collaboration with the online journal, Onco’Zine at www.oncozine.com - where you can find additional information and the latest news about cancer, cancer diagnosis and treatment, and cancer prevention.How to support The Onco'Zine BriefFor more information about supporting The Onco’Zine Brief, check our online journal Onco’Zine at www.Onco’Zine.com or visit Patreaon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebriefNewsletterIf you’re living in the United States and want to receive our Newsletter, text the word CANCER to 66866 - and we’ll make sure that you’ll receive our newsletter which includes an overview of the latest news in oncology and hematology.For more information about TARgeted DIgital Sequencing (TARDIS):- Garcia D. Federal Grant helps TGen Refine Cancer-detection Blood Tests for Breast Cancer Patients. Onco'Zine - October 15, 2019 - https://www.oncozine.com/federal-grant-helps-tgen-refine-cancer-detection-blood-tests-for-breast-cancer-patients/- Hofland P. New ‘Liquid Biopsy’ Helps to Improve Breast Cancer Diagnostics and Avoid Unnecessary Surgeries - August 8, 2019 - https://www.oncozine.com/new-liquid-biopsy-helps-improves-breast-cancer-diagnostics-and-avoid-unnecessary-surgeries/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

Today in The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks with Dr. Michael Caligiuri, President of City of Hope National Medical Center in Los Angeles, California and Deana and Steve Campbell Physician-in-Chief Distinguished Chair, and Dr. Jianhua Yu, professor in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at City of Hope, and a Scholar of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.By combining leading-edge science with true compassion and personalized treatment for each and every patient, scientists, researchers, doctors, nurses and in fact anyone at City of Hope, share in one single goal: Outsmarting cancer to eliminate it.  Recognizing the accomplishments in cancer research, treatment, patient care, education and prevention, the National Cancer Institute has designated City of Hope as a comprehensive cancer center, an honor reserved for only 49 institutions nationwide.Numerous breakthrough cancer drugs are based on technology pioneered by City of Hope. These drugs are saving lives of patients worldwide.In addition to cancer research, millions of people with diabetes benefit from synthetic human insulin, developed through research conducted at City of Hope. In today’s program, Hofland talk with Dr. Caligiuri and Dr. Yu about some of the results of this research – and how this is benefiting patients.ResearchIn a study published in Cancer Discovery, a journal published by the American Association for Cancer Research, Dr. Caligiuri and Dr. Yu and their colleagues, provide, for first time a scientific explanation as to how checkpoint inhibitor therapy can work when there’s no checkpoint expressed on a patient’s cancer cellsThis understanding may lead to a new powerful therapy against even more cancersImmune SystemThe immune system is a powerful collection of structures and processes within the body, designed to prevent or limit infection and protect against disease. And while the immune system can naturally defend us against cancer, cancer, in turn, has the ability to evade the immune system by seducing it not to attack it.To succeed, cancer exploits immune checkpoints, which regulate immune activation and prevent the immune system form attacking healthy cells. But this mechanism can also be used by a tumor to protect itself from being attacked by the immune system. Checkpoints on tumor cells and on T cells, which are also called T lymphocyte, type of white blood cell, help keep immune responses in check.In contrast, blocking these checkpoints releases the brakes on the immune system, giving it the ability to do what it is designed to do: eradicate cancer.The study published in Cancer Discovery helps understand some of the complex mechanisms involved.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

Today in The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks with Diane Zipursky Quale.Together with her late husband John Quale, Diane, who holds a BA from Stanford University and a JD from the National Law Center, George Washington University, is Co-Founder and Director of the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN), the only national advocacy organization devoted to advancing bladder cancer research and supporting those impacted by the disease.BCAN is on the front-lines advocating for greater public awareness and increased funding for research to identify effective treatments and eventually, a cure for bladder cancer.Each year, BCAN provides thousands of patients, caregivers and the medical community with the educational resources and support services they need to navigate their bladder cancer journey. The organization works collaboratively with the medical and research professionals who are dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of bladder cancer and empowers the patient community by allowing them to share experiences with others, and to participate in building awareness of the need for a cure.In the interview today Peter Hofland and Diane Zipursky Quale talk about BCAN and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks with Laura Panos Smith, a certified genetic counselor and vice president of commercial operations at Ambry Genetics.Ms. Smith leads a large team responsible for the implementation of key strategic initiatives for Ambry Genetics.This includes the daily support and education for patients and healthcare providers, as well as marketing and sales support functions.Ms. Smith has been with Ambry Genetics since 2013 and she has held a number of positions, most recently as the National Director of the Genetic Specialist team – a position she held for three years. Before joining the company, she worked as a Board Certified Genetic Counselor at Baylor Sammons Cancer Center, in Dallas, Texas, where she led an initiative to grow the oncology and cardiology genetics services. Ambry Genetics, the company Ms. Smith works for, is a leading clinical diagnostics company offering genetic testing, which includes screening and diagnosis, for conditions including hereditary cancer, hereditary cardiovascular disease, neuro-developmental disorders, epilepsy and others.As part of Konica Minolta Precision Medicine, Ambry Genetics translates scientific research into clinically actionable test results based upon a deep understanding of the human genome and the biology behind genetic disease. This enables more prescriptive, proactive and preventive care.But what is genetic testing?As mentioned in a previous episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, Genetic testing is a specific type of medical test designed to identify changes in an individuals’ chromosomes, genes, or proteins. A genetic test can confirm or rule out a suspected genetic condition. It can also help determine a person's chance of developing or even passing on a genetic disorder, which may lead to a specific disease.Generally, there are two main types of genetic testing:If, for example, you have been diagnosed with a type of cancer, the doctor may have told you about somatic or tumor testing. Such a tests involves a sample of the tumor. This test studies the DNA to determine what kind of treatment may be best for you – as a patient. It may look at different, targeted or even personalized treatments to determine which may be better or worse. An oncologist - or his or her team - will be the best resource to discuss this type of genetic testing and the results:The second type of genetic testing is called germline genetic testing. This test is using a blood or saliva sample. The DNA in blood cells is studied to see if there is a mutation that causes an increased risk to develop cancer or another diseaseThis test is for both people who have a specific disease cancer but also for people who do not. And the results of this test can be best discussed with a genetic counselor or healthcare provider.While genetic testing is available for many, it may not make sense for everyone. A genetic counselor can help a patient determine their risk for genetic disease and catch genetic diseases at an earlier more treatable phase.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks with Holly LaDuca, a certified genetic counselor and manager of clinical Research oncology at Ambry Genetics.Identifying an individual’s genetic information is nothing new. And while, over the last decades, most people have become familiar with genetic ancestry testing, or genetic genealogy, as a way for people interested in their family history to go beyond what they can learn from relatives or from historical documentation, genetic testing is much more than that.In essence, genomic data helps to accelerate the understanding of human disease. Ambry Genetics, is a leading clinical diagnostics company offering genetic testing, which includes screening and diagnosis, for conditions including hereditary cancer, hereditary cardiovascular disease, neurodevelopmental disorders, epilepsy and others diseases.As part of Konica Minolta Precision Medicine, Ambry Genetics translates scientific research into, what the company calls, clinically actionable test results based upon a deep understanding of the human genome and the biology behind genetic disease. This approach enables more prescriptive, proactive and preventive care.With an eclectic mix of backgrounds and specialties, a team of doctors, scientists, genetic counselors, lab technicians, artists, ocean-lovers and science geeks, the people at Ambry Genetics are looking for answers using the most advanced technology and quality processes in the diagnostics industry.This unique team of dedicated people is committed to delivering the most accurate genetic test results possible. And, when it comes to making important healthcare decisions, the company believes that patients would choose the most reliable and comprehensive test for themselves and their family. But what is genetic testing?In short, genetic testing is a type of medical test, usually a blood test, that identifies changes in chromosomes, genes, or proteins. The results of a genetic test can confirm or rule out a suspected genetic condition or help determine a person's chance of developing or passing on a genetic disorder, which may lead to a disease.Generally, there are two main types of genetic testing:- If you have cancer, the doctor may have told you about somatic or tumor testing. This tests involves a sample of the tumor. The DNA in the tumor is studied to determine if different treatments may be better or worse for the patient. In this case, the oncologists or his or her team will be the best resource to discuss this type of genetic testing.- The second type of genetic testing is called germline genetic testing and is done using a blood or saliva sample. The DNA in blood cells is studied to see if there is a mutation that causes an increased risk to develop cancer. This test is for both people who have cancer but also for people who do not. And the results can best be discussed with a genetic counselor or healthcare provider to discuss genetic testing.In talking to the people at Ambry Genetics, one thing stands out. Not only have the people working for the company a diverse backgrounds, they never lose sight of the fact that there is a human life attached to every genetic sample they receive and every result they generate. And they want to ensure that they deliver accurate results that can trusted by both healthcare providers and patients.For patients, taking a proactive stand about health and healthcare is empowering. So, if you consider a genetic test, talk to a healthcare provider to find out if genetic testing is right thing for you to do. Together with your healthcare provider you can find the best next steps to take. This is especially important if you think that you may have an increased risk for cancer or another hereditary disease.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.