The Onco'Zine Brief with Peter Hofland

In this 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. According 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. Photoimmunotherapy is a recently developed hybrid cancer therapy to treat diseases by linking specific antibodies with photosensitizers to form photoimmunoconjugates. About The Onco'Zine Brief 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 https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/jj9JqsS/MediaKit202122/, visit https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief at or https://www.oncozine.com/advertisement-sponsorship-options/. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal https://www.oncozine.com/ 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 http://www.javaoriginalcoffee.com/ – the home of artisan roasted coffee and https://roastmasterz.com.

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 https://www.arcellx.com/, 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 https://www.mdanderson.org/research/departments-labs-institutes/programs-centers/clinical-research-center-for-myeloproliferative-neoplasms/faculty-staff.html at https://www.mdanderson.org/, 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. About The Onco'Zine Brief 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 https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/jj9JqsS/MediaKit202122/, visit https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief at or https://www.oncozine.com/advertisement-sponsorship-options/. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal https://www.oncozine.com/ 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 http://www.javaoriginalcoffee.com/ – the home of artisan roasted coffee.

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 (https://www.sarclisahcp.com/; Sanofi) by an on-body delivery system in combination with pomalidomide (https://www.pomalysthcp.com/; 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 Brief 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 https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/jj9JqsS/MediaKit202122/, visit https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief at or https://www.oncozine.com/advertisement-sponsorship-options/. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal https://www.oncozine.com/ 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 http://www.javaoriginalcoffee.com/ – the home of artisan roasted coffee. Clinical trial Multinational Clinical Study Comparing Isatuximab, Carfilzomib And Dexamethasone To Carfilzomib And Dexamethasone In Relapse And/Or Refractory Multiple Myeloma Patients (IKEMA) -https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03275285

In this –this episode of the Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland is talking 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.

In this – 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 http://www.CIBMTR.org. About The Onco'Zine Brief 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 https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/jj9JqsS/MediaKit202122/, visit https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief at or https://www.oncozine.com/advertisement-sponsorship-options/. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal https://www.oncozine.com 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 http://www.javaoriginalcoffee.com – 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. [https://www.oncozine.com/is-finding-a-donor-for-all-in-need-of-allogeneic-hct-possible-new-modeling-says-yes/]

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.

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 Brief 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: 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.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. 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 - NCT04505826

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 Brief 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: 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.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. Clinical trials - Study of Lacutamab in Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma - NCT04984837 - Safety and Efficacy of Lacutamab in Patients With Relapse Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma That Express KIR3DL2 - NCT05321147 - IPH4102 Alone or in Combination With Chemotherapy in Patients With Advanced T Cell Lymphoma (TELLOMAK) - NCT03902184

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 controlled for 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 thejournal Science, validating a new oncology platform based on new classes of molecules that 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 DNA modification The 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 many other 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.

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 PhD 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 oder Dr Wright's book, click on the link: https://amzn.to/3P5wIxl About The Onco'Zine Brief 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: 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.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

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 Brief 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: 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.com To 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.

Research out earlier this year confirms what many doctors had feared: Cancer screenings dropped significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study, published in the February 2022 edition of Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, examined data from the Ontario Cancer Registry in Canada. 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, the cancer 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 means that 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 diagnosis later this year and in 2023. The main reason, they believe, is pandemic-related, including lockdowns 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 these clinical trials? In this episode of The Onco'Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph,D. talk 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 Brief 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: 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.com To 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.

In this interview Paul Schmidt, co-host of The Onco'Zine Brief, asked Laurie H. Sehn, MD, Clinical Professor at the British Columbia Cancer Centre for Lymphoid Cancer in the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, about new treatment options for patients diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, presented at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

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.

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 BriefPeter 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 Brief 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: 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.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

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 Brief 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: 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.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. Reference FLASH [Fluorescent Light Activated Synthetic Hypericin] Clinical Study: Topical SGX301 (Synthetic Hypericin) for the Treatment of Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma (Mycosis Fungoides) - NCT02448381

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 Brief 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: 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.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

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 Brief 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: 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.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

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 he 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 Brief 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: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

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 Brief 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: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

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 Brief 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: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D talks with Tony Polverino, Ph.D. 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 (HORIZON-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 Brief 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: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com To 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 - NCT03821233

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 Brief 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: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

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 Situ In 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 Brief 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: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

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, 2020 About The Onco'Zine Brief 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: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

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 Brief 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: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

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 sarcoma The 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 Brief 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 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/theoncozinebrief For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

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.com

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.com

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 developed This 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.

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.

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.

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 cancer To 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.

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.

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.

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 Foundation For more information about the Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation, visit the website of the organization at: www.ivyfoundation.org About Onco'Zine The 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 Brief For 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/theoncozinebrief Newsletter If 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/

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'Zine The 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 Brief For 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/theoncozinebrief Newsletter If 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/

Today in The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks with Dr. Michael Caligiuri and Deana and Steve Campbell Physician-in-Chief Distinguished Chair, President of City of Hope National Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, 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. Research In 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 cells This understanding may lead to a new powerful therapy against even more cancers Immune System The 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.

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.

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 disease This 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.

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.

In this episode of the Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland reports from the 2019 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology – ASCO – which was held May 31st – June 4th, 2019. Hofland talks with: - Dr. Hartmut Juhl, the Chief Executive Officer of Indivumed, a physician-led, integrated global oncology company. The company offers specialized products and services designed to support the discovery of biomarkers, drug development, clinical trials, and individualized treatment for patients with cancer, and - Dr. Jeannie Hou, Vice President Clinical Development at Rakuten Medical, a company developing precision-targeted medicines through the development of a novel, proprietary photo-immunotherapy platform. For more information, please visit Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, recorded during the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, ASCO, being held May 31 – June 4, 2019, Peter Hofland talks with Lee Schwartzberg MD, FACP, is a Medical Oncologist and Hematologist at West Cancer Center, Germantown, TN, and Dr. Shannon Westin, MD, MPH., FACOG, Associate Professor, Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine, Division of Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, a clinical investigator with a focus on developmental therapeutics and the use of biomarkers to predict response and recurrence in gynecologic malignancies. Today in The OncoZine Brief Hofland an hus guests discuss two different aspects of the treatment of cancer: palliative and supportive care and the treatment of Gynecological cancers. Hofland's interview with Dr. Lee Schwartzberg confirmed the importance of Palliative and supportive care in the treatment of patients with cancer. In essence, Palliative care is focused on improving the quality of life for people living with a serious illness like cancer. People with cancer may receive palliative care at any time from the point of diagnosis, throughout treatment, and beyond. This kind of care helps patients and caregivers manage the symptoms of cancer and side effects of treatment. In the second part of the program, Hofland and Dr. Shannon Westinwe spoke about the progress made in the treatment of Gynecological cancers. While all women are at risk for gynecologic cancers, and this risk increases with age, when gynecologic cancers are found early, treatment is most effective. But, the diagnosis of gynecological cancers can be difficult. In America, every six minutes a woman is diagnosed with a gynecologic cancer. And, according to the American Cancer Society, this year alone an estimated be 92,000 women will be diagnosed with a gynecological cancer in the United States. Sadly, this will also result in a predicted 28,000 women killed by various forms of this group of cancers. Some of these gynecologic cancers have been called “silent killers” because women are often unaware of the signs and symptoms associated with these cancers and do not catch them until it is too late. For more information, go to Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland report from the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology – ASCO – which was held May 31st – June 4th, 2019. The American Society of Clinical Oncology is the world's leading professional organization for physicians and oncology professionals caring for people with cancer. During the annual meeting Peter Hofland spoke with: •Anna Protopapas, the president and Chief Executive Office of Mersana Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotech company developing antibody-drug conjugates – a very specific kind of targeted anti-cancer drug, I also talk with •Eliran Malki, the Chief executive officer of BELONG.life, the world’s largest social network for cancer patients and caregivers designed to gain a better understanding of the cancer patient journey, with the goal of optimizing treatment and outcomes. •Dr. Rod Humerickhouse, asset strategy leader oncology at AbbVie, a highly focused research-driven biopharmaceutical company. As a major developer of anticancer drugs, AbbVie’s oncology scientists understand that outsmarting cancer takes a potent combination of courage, scientific expertise and strategy. For more information, go to Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

This week The Onco’Zine Brief comes from Chicago, Illinois and the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) being held May 31 – June 4, 2019. In this episode Peter Hofland talks with a Eugene Luskin, Chief Executive Officer of Redmond, Washington-based Vyrty. As part of a growing push to let patients control and manage their own medical history, Luskin’s Vyrty has launched a mobile app called Sync.MD that is designed by healthcare professionals to lets users – patients - store and share their own medical records with doctors. The app is a Personal Health Records (PHR-) system operated directly on behalf of and by patients, making them the real guardians of their health data. As the custodian of their own healthcare information, patients can keep all their health data in one place and easily share it with health professionals to streamline registrations, referrals, and coordinated care. For patients, it takes just seconds to sync with any computer in a fully secure and encrypted process. For healthcare professionals, Sync.MD makes it easy to share data and information in real-time (as required by HIPAA) with anyone involved in providing or assisting their your patient’s healthcare needs The web-based interface grantees easy accessing, uploading, or downloading of documents and does no require the installation of complex software. The system is also easier and more affordable than large electronic health records (EHR) systems developed by the likes of Epic Systems, Cerner and Allscripts. With multiple challenges in accessing and sharing data via legacy EHR-system as a result of remaining interoperability problems, Sync.MD-developers have created an easy to integrated, and low-costs, system designed to benefit both patients and doctors.

This week The Onco’Zine Brief comes from Chicago, Illinois and the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) being held May 31 – June 4, 2019. In this episode Peter Hofland talks with a Adil Akhtar, MD, an Oncologist and Palliative Care Expert, Associate Professor, Department of Medical Oncology & Hematology at the Oakland University-William Beaumont School of Medicine. He is also director, of Inpatient Clinical Operations at the Karmanos-McLaren Oakland Cancer Center in Michigan and Chief, Division of Palliative & End of Life Care, Michigan Health Professionals. Bladder Cancer Bladder cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the U.S., with 81,000 new cases diagnosed each year, and 17,000 deaths annually. The most common type of bladder cancers arises from the transitional epithelium and are called transitional cell or urothelial carcinomas. Typically, the patient’s choice of treatment will depend on the invasion of the muscle layer of the bladder, and has traditionally involved surgery, chemotherapy and/ or radiation treatment. Earlier this year, a new drug called erdafitinib, marketed as Balversa® (The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson), was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This drug is part of a new crop of potentially life-saving drugs is radically changing what the future of cancer care looks like— and improving outcomes for patients suffering from some of the most prevalent cancers. In the United States erdafitinib, the first-ever personalized treatment for bladder cancer, is one of these drugs. Immunotherapy is also increasingly used in advanced stages, but until now there have been no approved targeted agents for bladder cancer. The way physicians approach the disease is rapidly transforming. Tailoring treatment in accordance with the patient’s precise genetic mutation or biomarker is quickly becoming the new standard in cancer care. This is in contrast to the traditional way of thinking in which cancer was specifically focusing on an organ or body part (i.e. brain cancer, bladder cancer, breast cancer, etc.). The use of targeted therapies in bladder cancer is still an emerging field of research— but the apparent success of erdafitinib showcases the promise they may hold. Palliative Care Expert. In addition to being an oncologist, Dr. Akhtar’s medical specializations also include, palliative care and end of life/hospice care. He believes that everyone has a right to decide what kind of medical care they want. He is very passionate about the healthcare living will and advance care planning. He has founded Advance Care Now to help people understand and make decisions about advance care planning.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks with Mr. Isaac Israel, the CEO of Kitov Pharma, a pharmaceutical drug development company developing new options to treat osteoarthritis pain and hypertension simultaneously, as well as novel anticancer drugs. The company is developing an investigational drug called NT-219, a novel small molecule drug designed to targets two signal proteins that are part of an anti-cancer drug resistance mechanism.  Based on recent findings, Kitov researchers demonstrated that NT-219 binds directly to the two proteins. In previous preclinical models where NT-219 was administered in combination with various oncology therapies, outstanding efficacy in preventing acquired resistance and reversing tumor resistance was demonstrated. Immuno-oncology is increasingly recognized as the future in cancer therapy and many immuno-oncology candidates, including NT-219, have been identified and are currently being tested in preclinical studies or the clinic. Founded upon the key principles of the immune response, Immuno-Oncology research seeks to understand how the body’s natural defenses, can be leveraged to empower antitumor immunity. Immuno-oncology is different than traditional cancer treatments. It works by augmenting the immune system’s natural ability to see and eliminate cancer cells much in the same way it protects us against infection from viruses and bacteria. As a living, dynamic system, the immune system is able to detect cancer anywhere in the body, which is especially important in treating patients with cancers that have spread or metastasized to other organs. Recent clinical success has resulted in the approval of a number of novel immuno-oncology therapies, both alone and in combination with other treatments, for nearly 20 types of cancer, including advanced solid tumor and blood cancers as well as cancers with a specific genetic defect resulting in a high frequency of mutation, regardless of tissue type. In bladder cancer, melanoma, and certain types of lung cancer, these immuno-oncology therapies have received approval by the Unites States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as first-line treatment, replacing or, in the case of combination therapies, improving conventional treatments like chemotherapy. Immuno-oncology therapies are also FDA-approved to treat some patients for whom prior treatments were ineffective. Today, clinical trials are ongoing to test the benefits of Immuno-oncology agents in many other types of cancer.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talk with Dr. Lisa Stearns, the founder and medical director of Center for Pain and Supportive Care, in Phoenix, Arizona. An internationally recognized Interventional Pain Specialist, board certified in hospice and palliative medicine and pain management, Dr. Stearns’ passion for changing the face of acute and chronic pain-treatment is evidenced by her ongoing care for her patients and her active research to find a better way to manage pain. In addition to her work at the Center for Pain and Supportive Care, Dr. Stearns has authored numerous research articles and frequently speaks at medical society meetings around the world to share her knowledge and her passion to help her patients. Cancer and cancer treatments can be painful. And patients often experience pain from surgery - from tumors pressing on bones, nerves, or organs and from chemotherapy and radiation. But each of these kinds of pain can be controlled and kept at a bearable level. Dr. Sterns and her co-workers at the Center for Pain and Supportive Care work with cancer patients to develop a unique pain-management and rehabilitation-plan, based on a patient’s type of cancer. Using a palliative care model Dr. Stearns brings together a team of healthcare professionals to help create the best possible quality of life for her patients and their overall health and wellness. As a nation we battle an escalating opioid-overdose crisis – driven by synthetic opioids such as fentanyl but also tramadol and other drugs. Based on the latest data, this crisis claims more than 100 lives per day. In their response to this crisis, the government has enacted tougher new laws and regulations on opioid prescribing. These laws are, however well-intentioned, also restricting access to opioids for cancer patients. At the same time, opioid-use, has an addiction stigma among many patients with cancer. But, how common are opioid-related deaths in patients with cancer? To answer this question, researchers at the Duke University School of Medicine conducted a retrospective review of death certificate data from the National Center of Health Statistics, which provides information about the cause of death as well as and the contributing factors. The researchers looked at data from deaths due to opioids from 2006 to 2016. They calculated the opioid death incidence from the estimated cancer survivor population, as well as the total population of the United States. The researchers found that from 2006 to 2016, about 900 deaths were related to opioids in patients with cancer. However, this was compared with about 200,000 deaths in the non-cancer population. Opioid deaths in both groups did increase over time, from about 5 to almost 9 per 100,000 people in the general population and 0.5 to 0.7 per 100,000 in the cancer patient population. The researchers noted that in real, practical terms, the volume of overdose deaths in patients with cancer is very small. It increased from 59 patients in 2006 to 102 patients in 2016. The researchers involved in this study found that deaths from opioid abuse, as the primary cause of death, is about 10 times less likely to occur in patients with cancer. Healthcare professionals like Dr. Lisa Stearns are committed to help cancer patients with pain management designed to improve the individual’s health related Quality of Life.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks with Dr. Salman Hyder, Professor in Tumor Angiogenesis and professor of biomedical sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Missouri, in Columbia, Missouri. Together with a team of researchers Dr. Hyder found that a combination drug therapy, reduces the spread of triple negative breast cancer to other locations of the body by 50% A breast cancer cell is like a house with three locks on the front door. Keys, or receptors, allow drugs to unlock the door and kill the cell. However, in triple-negative breast cancer, these keys are absent, thereby resulting in few options for drug therapy. Until now. A protein called p53 suppresses and kills cancer in people. However, in contrast - a defective, mutant form of p53 helps cancer cells grow and multiply. Triple negative breast cancer lacks ways to treat the cancer with hormone therapies or anti-HER2 targeted therapies. While chemotherapy can work well in Triple Negative Breast cancer – and a patient may even respond better to chemotherapy than some other types of breast cancer - these drugs are toxic, and non-specific. Research has shown that most people who die as the result of breast cancer, in particular women with triple-negative breast cancer, do so following metastasis, or spread of the cancer to other organs in the body. Triple negative breast cancer lacks ways to treat the cancer with hormone therapies or anti-HER2 targeted therapies. While chemotherapy can work well in Triple Negative Breast cancer – and a patient with Triple Negative Breast cancer may even respond better to chemotherapy than patients with other types of breast cancer – chemotherapeutic drugs are generally toxic, and non-specific. Dr. Hyder and his team wanted to see if a new combination therapy could provide a new, non-toxic targeted approach for treatment. In a preclinical study with two previously discovered drugs —one that restores the p53 protein’s ability to kill cancer cells and another that targets the blood vessels in order to kill cancer cells — they observed an effect on metastatic triple negative breast cancer. And according to the researchers, the results are promising. Dr Hyder noted that the cancer did not spread as fast when both drugs were given separately, and a little more with the combination of the two agents. The two investigational drugs, APR-246 and 2aG4, are currently in clinical trials. Researchers hope that these findings will help enhance personalized treatment for breast cancer by reducing existing cancer cells and preventing the spread of the cancer to other parts of the body.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks with Greg Van Wyk, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Medical Officer of Noxopharm, a clinical-stage Australian drug development company with offices in Sydney, New York and Hong Kong. The company is developing a number of drug candidates including an advanced dosage formulation of the generic anti-cancer agent called idronoxil, which is designed to specifically target cancer cells, rendering them less able to survive radiotherapy. The drug is marketed as Veyonda® Radiation seeks to kill cancer cells by damaging their DNA beyond any ability of the cancer cell to repair that damage. However, all cells have a well-developed mechanism to repair DNA damage. And if a cancer cell is successful in repairing the damage caused by radiation designed to kill it, and survives, therapy is unsuccessful. Scientists have developed a number of drugs designed to block that repair mechanism. This means that more cancer cells can be killed following radiotherapy. Unfortunately, many of these agents have not yet been successful. One reason is that they do not discriminate between repair mechanisms in cancer cells and repair mechanisms in healthy cells. And these drugs also increase the toxic side-effects of radiotherapy, countering any benefit from their use. Idronoxil is different because it only blocks repair mechanisms in cancer cells... as a result, healthy cells remain unaffected. But in order to block the repair mechanism, idronoxil needs to be present on a continuous basis. When it is not present, the repair process continues unabated. Researchers at Noxopharm have been able to develop a formulation of idronoxil that keeps the agent in the body in an active form for long periods of time. The result is a continuous anti-cancer effect for as many days as the drug is administered. The drug has also being studies as an adjunct therapy to a standard of care chemotherapy drug. The purpose of this approach is to increasing the sensitivity of widely-used chemotherapies while, at the same time, reducing many the well-documented damaging side-effects. Earlier this year data from the first series of pre-clinical studies confirmed that idronoxil activates the cells associated with both the innate and adaptive immune systems. Noxopharm’s Veyonda® works in tandem with both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The drug is designed to increasing the number of cancer cells killed by those treatments. But the drug goes a step further when it acts as an immuno-oncology drug by switching on the body’s first-line immune defense mechanism. This is the main mechanism responsible for fighting cancer. What distinguishes Noxopharm’s investigational drug is that it works with, not against the body’s defenses against cancer. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are destructive treatments. Although they are designed to kill cancer, they can also damage healthy cells. And unfortunately they can also damage the defense mechanisms that the body relies on to fight cancer. The end result with standard chemotherapy and radiotherapy is a restricted anti-cancer effect because those treatments may also have disabled the body’s defense mechanisms.  The aim NoxoPharm’s treatment is that it ensures that the immune system is switched ON and Primed to kill any cancer cells that survive the chemotherapy and radiotherapy.  This early defense system is known as the innate immune system and is very effective at detecting and eradicating abnormal cells such as cancer cells. Noxopharm’s Veyonda® is considered to be a first-in-class activator of the innate immune system. This is the system, that scientists increasingly are beginning to see, must be activated if a cancer is to have any chance of being permanently eradicated.