OncTimes Talk

In this episode, Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH, explains why movement should be treated like medicine for patients with cancer. In conversation with Susan MacDonald, MD, she breaks down the evidence, addresses common barriers, and offers practical guidance for both clinicians and patients. Resources mentioned in the podcast: Moving Through Cancer: An Exercise and Strength-Training Program for the Fight of Your Life movingthroughcancer.org 2Unstoppable

In this episode of Oncology Times, Dr. Susan MacDonald speaks with epidemiologist Dr. Mary Beth Terry about the alarming rise in early-onset cancers, particularly among women, and the role of environmental and lifestyle factors. They explore emerging evidence on alcohol use, plastics, vaping, and other exposures. Resources: Top 10 Tips for Healthier Home: General guidance on reducing exposures to hazardous chemicals in and round the home. Breast Cancer and the Environment: Simple steps for avoiding endocrine disrupting chemicals relevant to breast cancer. PFAS Exchange: An online resource center about PFAS contaminants in drinking water—helping communities understand their exposures and take action to protect their health. Includes medical guidance for healthcare providers. Detox Me mobile app (and more): Our free mobile app walks you through simple, research-based tips on how to limit your exposures to toxic chemicals where you live, work, and play. Includes top tips.

In this episode of OncTimes Talk, host Dr. McDonald speaks with Rose Gerber, Director of Patient Advocacy and Education at the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and a 23‑year breast cancer survivor. Rose shares her powerful personal cancer journey and how that experience ignited her lifelong commitment to patient advocacy. She discusses the essential role of community oncology practices, the challenges these centers face amid clinic closures and ongoing PBM interference, and why preserving local, accessible, innovative cancer care is critical for patients nationwide.

What happens when you survive a disaster that steals the lives of thousands of children?  For Dr. Yan Leyfman, surviving Chernobyl as a child wasn't just fate—it became the foundation of a lifelong mission to heal.  In this deeply personal conversation, Yan shares how tragedy shaped his calling in oncology, why empathy is the strongest medicine, and how innovation must not only save lives—but reach the patients who need it most. We explore the emotional weight of walking with patients through their darkest moments, the responsibility of a second chance at life, and a bold vision of equity that ensures hope isn't limited by geography or circumstance.  This episode is a testament to purpose, resilience, and the kind of medicine that doesn't just extend life—it honors it. 

In this podcast episode, Dr. Christine Ibilibor meets with Dr. Jean-Paul De La O, a Senior Principal Medical Affairs Director at Exact Sciences, to talk about how comprehensive DNA and RNA sequencing of tumors has become easier, faster and more actionable for oncologists. The pair also discuss Exact Sciences' retrospective analysis of over 10,000 solid tumor samples profiled with the OncoExTra® test, and what the results revealed about biomarker testing.  

In this episode of OncTimes Talk, we chat with Dr. Janet Kukreja about the evolving landscape of bladder cancer.

In this episode of OncTimes Talk, Dr. Victor Czerkasij, DNP, DCNP, FNP-C, CWCP, MSN, MA discusses the current state of skin cancer in the U.S.

In this episode of OncTimes Talk, we chat with Dr. Eliot Siegel, MD, FACR, FSIM, DABR; Dr. Michael Morris, MD, MS, DABR, DABNM, DCI; Dr. Babak Saboury, MD, MPH, DABR, DABNM; and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Munir Ghesani, MD, FACNM, FACR, FSNMMI from United Theranostics, a national leader in precision cancer care and radiopharmaceutical therapy. Together, these visionary physicians are advancing the frontiers of targeted cancer treatment, bringing innovative therapies and cutting-edge research to patients and communities across the country. We explore the evolution and future of radiopharmaceutical therapy, the challenges and opportunities in expanding access to advanced cancer care, and how United Theranostics is shaping the next generation of oncology practice.

At 36, Heather Von St. James was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma and given just 15 months to live. Nineteen years later, she's not only surviving, but she's also leading a movement. In this episode, Heather shares how she turned trauma into purpose, created a powerful annual ritual called "Lung Leavin' Day" and became a national voice for mesothelioma awareness. From motherhood to advocacy, Heather's voice is a reminder that even in the face of the unimaginable, purpose can take root.

In this episode of OncTimes Talk, we chat with Joey-Rose Jester, an exhibits manager and survivor of cholangiocarcinoma to explore the personal and professional sides of her cancer journey. From navigating a rare diagnosis to showing up at work during treatment, Joey-Rose shares honest reflections, unexpected lessons, and the moments that shaped her path.

In this episode of OncTimes Talk, we chat with Tom Hulsey—athlete, author, and prostate cancer survivor—about the life-altering moment he received his diagnosis on his birthday, and how it set him on a path of resilience, advocacy, and renewed purpose. Tom opens up about the emotional toll of staying silent, the power of mindset in healing, and how facing both cancer and heart disease reshaped his outlook on life. He also shares insights from his work with medical research programs and offers powerful advice for men navigating their own health journeys. This is a conversation about vulnerability, strength, and the will to turn pain into purpose.

In this third episode of the OncoExTra® podcast series, host Ruchika Talwar, MD, talks with Christy Russell, MD, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Exact Sciences, about what oncologists can expect when they receive their OncoExTra comprehensive genomic profiling test results, and how they can utilize the report and tap into Exact Sciences' skilled support team to develop a plan of action for their patients.

In this episode of OncTimes Talk, we chat with Sami Mansfield, ACSM-CET, PN1, the founder of Cancer Wellness for Life, an organization dedicated to developing, implementing, and optimizing exercise oncology and lifestyle medicine programs and resources for hospitals, healthcare organizations, pharmaceutical companies, nonprofits, and individuals impacted by cancer. cancerwellnessforlife.com

In this episode of OncTimes Talk, we chat with Katie Colman. Diagnosed with an ultra-rare stage IV kidney cancer in 2020, her prognosis had a chance to significantly change after six months. Since then, Katie has since become an Author, founded a non-profit organization, and has become a podcast host—all with the goal of giving back to cancer research.   Katiekickscancer.com

In this podcast episode, host Ruchika Talwar, MD, is joined by Amin Mazloom, PhD, Senior Vice President of Bioinformatics, Biostatistics & Data Innovation, and Janine LoBello, DO, Senior Clinical Laboratory Medical Director at Exact Sciences to discuss patient-matched tumor-normal (PMTN) sequencing and why it matters for oncologists. Drs. Mazloom and LoBello discuss PMTN sequencing as a gold standard method for calculating tumor mutational burden and personalized therapy selection and share their thoughts on the future of cancer testing.

In this podcast episode, host Ruchika Talwar, MD, is joined by Amin Mazloom, PhD, Senior Vice President of Bioinformatics, Biostatistics & Data Innovation, and Janine LoBello, DO, Senior Clinical Laboratory Medical Director at Exact Sciences to discuss patient-matched tumor-normal (PMTN) sequencing and why it matters for oncologists. Drs. Mazloom and LoBello discuss PMTN sequencing as a gold standard method for calculating tumor mutational burden and personalized therapy selection and share their thoughts on the future of cancer testing.

In this episode, Dr. Ruchika Talwar, a urologic oncologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Dr. Adham Jurdi, a medical oncologist and Senior Director of Oncology at Natera, delve into the groundbreaking world of tumor-informed molecular residual disease testing. Discover how circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is revolutionizing cancer detection and treatment, providing real-time insights that surpass traditional imaging methods. Learn about the decades-long journey to perfect this technology, its clinical implications, and the exciting advancements on the horizon.

In this episode of the OncTimes Talk, we chat with Susan MacDonald, MD, Associate Professor and Program Director of the Department of Urology at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, in Hershey, PA. MacDonald shares her inspiring journey of facing a life-changing diagnosis with strength and resilience. Discover her insights into the healthcare system, the unexpected joys she found, and her advice for others facing similar challenges.

Masood Moghul, MBBS, a urologist and Research Fellow at the Royal Marsden Hospital and Institute of Cancer Research in London shared findings from a study investigating a mobile, targeted, case-finding approach to prostate cancer detection with 3,379 patients.   Moghul told the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco how the study addressed health inequalities and barriers to accessing health care that affect prostate cancer in high-risk underserved groups.

In the third episode of A Deep Dive Into HRD Testing in Ovarian Cancer, a three-part podcast series sponsored by AstraZeneca, we're speaking with Dr. David O'Malley, and Bobbie R, an ovarian cancer patient. Dr. O'Malley will highlight how HRD testing empowers ovarian cancer patients to make more informed decisions with their doctors to help guide their treatment journey, and Bobbie will provide insight into her experience with HRD testing.   Dr. David O'Malley is a professor in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and the director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at the OSUCCC – James.   Bobbie is a stage 3C ovarian cancer patient who lives in Rochester, New York. Bobbie is an animal rights activist, vegetarian, and exerciser who recently retired from the healthcare field, having worked as a registered nurse and owner of a healthcare staffing firm. Following her diagnosis in July of 2021, Bobbie participated in biomarker testing which indicated that she was breast cancer gene (BRCA) negative and homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) positive. After undergoing surgery and chemotherapy as first-line treatment, Bobbie's oncologist explained that she was eligible for a poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor due to her HRD status and on March 7, 2022, Bobbie started on a PARP inhibitor for maintenance treatment. As she continues treatment in 2024, Bobbie celebrates over 45 years of marriage with her husband and looks forward to traveling the United States, reading good books, and spending time with her dogs.   For more information, visit https://www.azprecisionmed.com/tumor-type/ovarian-cancer/hrd-testing.html   For patient resources, please visit TestForHRD.com.   This podcast does not necessarily reflect the opinions of AstraZeneca and are the spokespeople's opinions and experiences.

In the second episode of A Deep Dive into HRD Testing in Ovarian Cancer, a three-part podcast series sponsored by AstraZeneca, we're speaking with Dr. Erin Crane who will highlight how HRD testing provides helpful information to ovarian cancer patients.   Erin K. Crane, MD, MPH, is a gynecologic oncologist with Atrium Health Levine Cancer in Charlotte, North Carolina. A graduate of the SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY, Dr. Crane completed her residency at the University of Virginia and a fellowship at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Gynecologic Oncology. She is board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Gynecologic Oncology and Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Crane is a Clinical Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.   For more information, visit https://www.azprecisionmed.com/tumor-type/ovarian-cancer/hrd-testing.html For patient resources, please visit TestForHRD.com.   This podcast does not necessarily reflect the opinions of AstraZeneca and are the spokesperson's opinions and experience.

In the first episode of A Deep Dive into HRD Testing in Ovarian Cancer, a three-part podcast series sponsored by AstraZeneca, we're speaking with Dr. Kathleen Moore about HRD testing in ovarian cancer and its clinical significance in helping aid precision medicine approaches.   Dr. Kathleen Moore is a Professor of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Associate Director of Clinical Research and Director of the Oklahoma TSET Phase I Program at the Stephenson Cancer Center. A graduate of the University of Washington School of Medicine, WA, Dr. Moore completed her residency in gynecology at the University Health Center of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, PA and completed a fellowship in gynecologic oncology at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in Oklahoma City, OK. She is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology as well as gynecologic oncology and hospice and palliative care.   For more information, visit: https://www.azprecisionmed.com/tumor-type/ovarian-cancer/hrd-testing.html For patient resources, please visit TestForHRD.com.   This podcast does not necessarily reflect the opinions of AstraZeneca and are the spokeperson's opinions and experience.

At the 2025 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, researchers from Japan reported marked differences between the populations of several key microbial species in the gut microbiomes of patients with metastatic prostate cancer that distinguished them from those with non-metastatic disease. This was in the PROMISE-JAPAN study with 869 Japanese patients.   After talking about his group's new data, lead researcher Koji Hatano, MD, a urologist from Osaka University in Japan, discussed the insights this has given doctors into the metastatic process and potential ways of modifying it.

At the 2025 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco, the Phase III AFU-GETUG-20 trial reported that adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy did not improve outcomes when added to surgery for patients with high-risk prostate cancer.   Using 2 years of androgen deprivation therapy after radical prostatectomy in high-risk patients with undetectable postoperative PSA did not significantly improve metastasis-free survival. First author François Rozet, MD, a senior surgeon in the Department of Urology at the Institut Mutualiste Montsouris in Paris, France, shared more details about the study.

A numerical formula called the absolute percentage pattern 4/5 (APP4) combining risk factors, including Gleason grade, PSA, and digital rectal examination, is being used to select patients whose intermediate risk prostate cancer can safely be followed with active surveillance.   A research study using APP4 was reported at the 2025 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco. First author Ruben Del Castillo, MD, a radiation oncologist from the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada, shared the details.

Masood Moghul, MBBS, a urologist and research fellow at the Royal Marsden Hospital and Institute of Cancer Research in London, UK, discussed his group's findings from the Man Van study investigating a mobile, targeted, case-finding approach to prostate cancer detection with 3,379 patients conducted in Greater London.   Moghul told the 2025 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco how the study had addressed health inequalities and barriers to accessing health care that affect prostate cancer in high-risk underserved groups.

The pivotal role of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) checkpoint inhibition for treating advanced melanoma has been confirmed in findings from the KEYNOTE-006 study comparing the anti-PD-L1 antibody pembrolizumab immunotherapy with the anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) drug ipilimumab for treating patients with unresectable advanced or metastatic melanoma. Results from the study were reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2024 Annual Congress, held in Barcelona, Spain.

Although one in five colorectal cancers having microsatellite instability and expressing the Werner Helicase (WRN) gene could be treated with drugs that inhibit WRN, the effectiveness of such an approach has been limited by resistance. However, researchers identified the Cys727 mutation as being solely responsible for WRN inhibitor resistance. This potentially opens the door to using WRN inhibitors in the cancer clinic by inactivating this resistance gene.   At the EORTC-NCI-AACR 2024 Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics Symposium Gabriele Picco, PhD, Senior Staff Scientist in the Translational Cancer Genomics Team at the Wellcome Sanger Institute's Genome Campus, reported findings about WRN resistance mechanisms that may clear the path to introducing WRN inhibitors to the cancer clinic to fight microsatellite unstable cancers. 

The pivotal role of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) checkpoint inhibition for treating advanced melanoma has been confirmed in findings from the KEYNOTE-006 study comparing the anti-PD-L1 antibody pembrolizumab immunotherapy with the anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) drug ipilimumab for treating patients with unresectable advanced or metastatic melanoma. Results from the study were reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2024 Annual Congress, held in Barcelona, Spain.

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

Findings from a study of patients receiving targeted therapy for their BRAFV600 mutation-positive advanced melanoma, suggest that switching early to immune checkpoint inhibition appeared to bring better rates of overall survival than saving immunotherapy for use as salvage treatment later on.  The ESMO 2024 Annual Congress heard from the randomized Phase II ImmunoCobiVem trial that a switch to immunotherapy after only 3 months treatment with drugs targeted to the mutation gave equivalent or better survival than continuing with targeted therapy.

A clinically meaningful benefit in overall survival was found in the second interim analysis of the randomized, double-blind, Phase III KEYNOTE-A18 study of immunotherapy together with concurrent chemoradiotherapy among 1,060 patients who had newly diagnosed, previously untreated high-risk locally advanced cervical cancer.  A multinational team of researchers, led from Italy, reported findings at the ESMO Congress 2024. There was a statistically significant increase in 36-month overall survival in patients treated with pembrolizumab, in addition to chemoradiotherapy, in comparison to those in the control group who received standard chemoradiation alone. 

In this podcast episode, Ruchika Talwar, MD, sits down with Rick Baehner, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Precision Oncology at Exact Sciences and Clinical Professor of Pathology at University of California, San Francisco, to discuss the importance of ultra-comprehensive genomic profiling in advanced cancer therapy selection. The two talk about the OncoExTra® test from Exact Sciences, which includes whole-exome DNA sequencing and whole-transcriptome RNA sequencing, and how the latest updates to industry guidelines will continue to influence approaches to cancer care.  

The prospect of markedly raising chemotherapy response rates and extending patient survival has been held out by scientists reporting a new AI-powered digital tool to optimize cancer management for individual patients.   The tool creates a "digital twin" for each patient that makes it possible to predict response to specific treatment regimens and confidently predict outcomes, according to findings from a study reported by scientists at the EORTC-NCI-AACR 2024 Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics Symposium.

The prospect of a minimally toxic, chemotherapy-free cure for hepatoblastoma is held out by findings from a mouse model using the small-molecule drug WNTinib that inhibits the Wnt signaling pathway involved with cancer growth.   Lead author Ugnė Balaševičiūtė, a pre-doctoral researcher in Translational Research of the Hepatic Oncology Group led by Josep M. Llovet, Professor at the Institut D'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) in Barcelona, Spain, reported that the CTNNB1 (catenin beta-1 protein) gene targeted by WNTinib was expressed in 90 percent of all hepatoblastomas. Hopes were high that a safer alternative to chemotherapy in humans was on the way.

A chemotherapy-free combination of two anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (anti-HER2) agents brought clinically meaningful responses to patients with bile duct cancers testing positive for HER2 or with mutated HER2 in research from Japan reported at the EORTC-NCI-AACR 2024 Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics Symposium held in Barcelona, Spain.   In the SGNTUC-019 Phase II basket study of 217 patients, who had a variety of previously treated solid tumors with HER2 overexpressed, amplified, or mutated, a combination of tucatinib with trastuzumab brought significant clinical responses among those with biliary tract tumors in addition to those with breast cancer.

The fibroblast growth factor receptor-3 (FGFR-3) inhibitor TYRA-300 has been found safe with dose-dependent responses and disease control in the Phase I SURF301 trial. The study included 41 patients who had been heavily pre-treated for their advanced solid tumors with activating FGFR3 mutations/fusions, bringing the hope of avoiding toxicities from the use of non-specific pan-FGFR inhibition.   The findings were reported by Ben Tran, MBBS, FRACP, at the 2024 EORTC-NCI-AACR 2024 Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics Symposium held in Barcelona, Spain. Tran is a Medical Oncologist and Associate Professor at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre Melbourne, Australia. He also is Chair of the Germ Cell Tumour Subcommittee for the Australian and New Zealand Urological and Prostate Cancer Trials.

The mini-protein radiopharmaceutical AKY-1189, designed to deliver the alpha-emitting isotope Actinium-225 (225Ac) to tumors expressing the Nectin-4 transmembrane protein, has been found to achieve favorable dosing to tumors, while minimizing exposure to non-target tissues, including the kidney. Data on the biodistribution and tumor uptake of the drug were reported at the 2024 EORTC-NCI-AACR 2024 Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics Symposium held in Barcelona. Researcher Machaba Mike Sathekge, PhD, Professor and Head of the Department of Nuclear Medicine at the University of Pretoria and Steve Biko Academic Hospital in South Africa. He is also CEO of Nuclear Medicine Research Infrastructure and Chairman of the South African Medical Research Council.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Important findings about the benefit of neoadjuvant therapies, especially those involving checkpoint inhibition, have been reported at the ESMO 2024 Congress. Rebecca Dent, MD, Scientific Chair of the meeting, as well as Medical Oncologist and Deputy Chief Executive Officer at the National Cancer Center in Singapore (with a special interest in all aspects of triple-negative breast cancer), shared the key areas of progress covered by the meeting.

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

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

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