Project Oncology

Host: Zachery Reichert MD, PhD If hormonal therapies are not working for prostate cancer patients, chemotherapy may be a reliable alternative based on findings from a recent study. In fact, out of the 70 percent of patients who had pain when entering the study, 45 percent had their pain improved with chemotherapy. Dive more into the findings with Dr. Zachery Reichert, who presented the “Sequencing Hormonal Therapies After Treatment Intensification” session at the 2024 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

Host: Jacob Sands, MD Guest: Aakesh Desai, MD, MPH According to research featured at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting, novel immune checkpoint targets have the potential to inform drug development and combination strategies to optimize the care of patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Tune in to hear Dr. Jacob Sands explore the key findings with Dr. Aakash Desai, an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the O’Neal Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Guest: Jessica E. Hawley M.D. M.S. For patients who start out with hormone sensitive prostate cancer, there's a period of time where the prostate cancer cells are responsive to suppressing testosterone production. So there’s a nice disease response early in that time period after diagnosis and when initial treatment has begun, but how long is each patient going to respond to that initial treatment, and what role does the multidisciplinary team have? Dive in with Dr. Jessica Hawley, Medical Oncologist at Fred Hutch Cancer Center and an Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Host: Neal Shore, MD, FACS Between 20 and 50 percent of patients with high-risk localized prostate cancer will develop biochemical resistance, but historically, no Level I evidence for treatment was available. That’s why the EMBARK study is the first phase 3 trial to develop Level I evidence looking at monotherapy T suppression versus monotherapy enzalutamide versus combination enzalutamide and leuprolide. Dive into the findings with Dr. Neal Shore, who presented the “Outcomes of Men with High-Risk Biochemically Recurrent Prostate Cancer Who Suspended Enzalutamide Monotherapy Treatment in the Phase 3 EMBARK Study” session at the 2024 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

Guest: Jessica E. Hawley M.D. M.S. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has recommended new guidelines for the treatment of prostate Cancer. In this episode, you’ll learn about the top three biggest changes to the NCCN guidelines. Tune in with Dr. Jessica Hawley, Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, who will also present this topic at the ASCO GU Symposium 2024.

Host: Daniel Kwon, MD Between patient anxiety and insurance implications, there are several challenges associated with delivering germline testing to veterans with advanced prostate cancer. Learn more about these challenges and proposed solutions with Dr. Daniel Kwon, who presented the “Challenges in Patient-Centered Germline Testing Delivery for Veterans with Advanced Prostate Cancer” session at the 2024 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

Host: Jacob Sands, MD Guest: Liza Villaruz, MD According to a recent study, the immune checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab is not only considered safe, but it may also offer overall survival benefits for individuals with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and restricted performance status. Here to talk about this research are Dr. Jacob Sands and Dr. Liza Villaruz, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Guest: Filipa Lynce, MD It’s very common for patients with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) to present with no underlying palpable mass, which may cause some challenges for clinicians and patients. So what are some unique challenges associated with surgery in IBC and the risks of deescalating? Join Dr. Filipa Lynce, Director of the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Program at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, as she reviews her research on IBC that she presented at the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Guest: Filipa Lynce, MD Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a rare disease that represents about two to three percent of all breast cancers and is challenging to diagnose. To improve diagnosis, researchers are working to validate a new proposed scoring system. Review the current research with Dr. Flipia Lynce, Director of the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Program at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Host: Pavani Chalasani, MD, MPH Guest: Jason A. Mouabbi, MD Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) is an understudied subtype that occurs in about 10 to 15 percent of breast cancer patients and is known to be difficult to detect by imaging. So how do we approach diagnosing and treating this subtype? Dr. Pavani Chalasani is joined by Dr. Jason Mouabbi, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Chair of the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance, to discuss his session on ILC at the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Host: Pavani Chalasani, MD, MPH Guest: Jose Pablo Leone, MD Breast cancer is the second most common cause of brain metastases. Given this prevalence, how can we identify the early signs and symptoms and treat patients with metastatic breast cancer accordingly? Here to dive further into this topic with Dr. Pavani Chalasani is Dr. Jose Pablo Leone, Director of the Program for Breast Cancer in Men at Dana-Farber.

Host: Mary Katherine Cheeley, PharmD, BCPS, CLS, FNLA Guest: Sophia Humphreys, PharmD, MHA, BCBBS Not only can biosimilars impact the health of our patients with cancer, but they can also contribute to cost savings for the healthcare system as a whole. Here to dive further into the economic impacts of biosimilars in the oncology space with Dr. Mary Katherine Cheeley is Dr. Sophia Humphreys, Director of System Pharmacy Formulary Management and Clinical Programs at Sutter Health.

Host: Pavani Chalasani, MD, MPH Guest: Gabriel N. Hortobagyi, MD Bone metastases are the most frequent site of metastatic spread for breast cancer, especially for the luminal subtypes, which are the most frequent types of breast cancer. Here to dive further into these therapies with Dr. Pavani Chalasani is Dr. Gabriel Hortobagyi, Professor of Medicine in the Department of Breast Medical Oncology in the Division of Cancer Medicine at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Host: Pavani Chalasani, MD, MPH Guest: Nick McAndrew, MD, MSCE How can ribociclib plus endocrine therapy help reduce recurrence in early breast cancer? That’s the exact question the NATALEE trial sought to answer, and here to discuss the results with Dr. Pavani Chalasani is Dr. Nicholas McAndrew, Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine.

Host: Jacob Sands, MD Guest: Jia Luo, MD NUT carcinoma is a rare, aggressive form of cancer that’s highly resistant to therapy and has no defined standard treatment. Joining Dr. Jacob Sands to discuss the best diagnostic and treatment strategies for NUT carcinoma is Dr. Jia Luo, medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Host: Pavani Chalasani, MD, MPH Guest: Colleen Bohnenkamp, PharmD, BCPS, BCOP In a recent study, investigators conducted a randomized trial to compare the efficacy and tolerability of a fixed dose of an oral chemotherapy drug on a 7/7 schedule. Here with Dr. Pavani Chalasani to discuss the results from the X-7/7 trial is Dr. Colleen Bohnenkamp, Oncology Clinical Pharmacist who specializes in women’s cancers at the University of Kansas Cancer Center.

Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP Guest: Richard T. Penson, MD, MRCP Uterine cancer is the most common type of gynecologic malignancy in the United States, and disease mortality is on the rise. What do we need to know from recent studies to diagnose patients earlier? Take a deep dive with Dr. Charles Turck as he is joined by Dr. Richard Penson, Medical Oncologist specializing in Gynecologic Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP Guest: Priscilla Brastianos, MD Brain metastases are the most common type of brain tumor, and unfortunately, prognosis is still limited and can range from a few months to a few years. However, the next-step approaches look promising for improving patient outcomes. Dive in with Dr. Charles Turck as he speaks with Dr. Priscilla Brastianos, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Director of the Central Nervous System Metastasis Center at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Guest: Vivek Subbiah, MD This episode will recap updates from the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting regarding the abstract on comprehensive genomic profiling for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Join Dr. Vivek Subbiah, Chief of Early Drug Development at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, Tennessee, to learn more.

Guest: Emily MacDuffie, MD A recent survey conducted by physicians at Penn Medicine found that one-third of female oncologists reported experiencing infertility. Join Dr. Emily Macduffie, Radiation Oncology Resident Physician at Penn Medicine, as she speaks about potential solutions related to infertility for women in medicine based on her 2023 ASCO presentation.