Oncology News Central Peer-Spectives

Oncology Must Do More for Long-Term Cancer Survivors, Expert Says

Various survivorship guidelines for pediatric patients have been established, but “such guidelines do not exist in the adult world,” says Smita Bhatia, MD, MPH, director of the Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship and the Gay and Bew White Endowed Professor in Pediatric Oncology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. With the number of adult cancer survivors rapidly rising, the time is now for major oncology societies to help create long-term health recommendations, she tells Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. Dr. Bhatia and Dr. Figlin discuss the critical need to explore how recent advances in cancer care, such as targeted treatments and immunotherapies, may affect the future health of survivors. “If we don’t start by constructing large cohorts and following them long term, we will have lost this opportunity that exists right now,” she explains. Dr. Bhatia is an Associate Editor for Journal of Clinical Oncology. Journal policy recused the author from having any role in the peer review of the manuscript discussed. Dr. Figlin reported various financial relationships.

“A Good, Peaceful Death” From Cancer: Oncologists Must Be Part of “National Dialogue”

Obstacles to “achieving a good, peaceful death” prevent many patients with cancer from the “dignified end” that they deserve, says Sunita Puri, MD, a palliative care physician and author. She and Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles, discuss frustrations and concerns about systemic failures in cancer care when it comes to death and dying. “We need to have this national dialogue around this topic,” argues Dr. Figlin. “It can’t be under the covers, where we don’t talk about it.” Dr. Puri reported no relevant financial disclosures. Dr. Figlin reported various financial relationships.

FDA Approvals in Relapsed/Refractory CLL Set up ”Difficult Choice”

When it comes to the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), "within the last eight months or so, we have had some exciting new events," says Daniel A. Ermann, MD, a hematologist-oncologist and assistant professor at the University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved pirtobrutinib for previously treated CLL in December 2023 and approved the CAR-T therapy lisocabtagene ciloleucel for relapsed/refractory disease in March 2024. These new options for patients with unmet needs present "a difficult choice, and it is a little bit of a balance," Dr. Ermann explains. He discusses key considerations for treatment selection with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. 

Oncologists Struggling With Cancer Deaths Among Millennial Patients

Oncologists are struggling with the rising cancer mortality rate among millennial patients. "I think treating people our own age is definitely a trigger for a lot of people," said Sunita Puri, MD, a palliative-care physician and author. She spoke with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles, about her recent article in The Atlantic, "The Silence Doctors Are Keeping About Millennial Deaths." Dr. Puri explained how age bias and other factors have led to challenges in providing the care that younger adults with terminal cancer both want and need. "We should be matching up medical treatment with the values of the patient. Younger people, in my experience, don't want to be protected from the truth," she said. Dr. Puri and Dr. Figlin discussed how certain training can help and which misperceptions should be challenged. "I think we're socialized as doctors to equate treatment, survival, benefit, and cure as our scope of care. But part of our care is absolutely seeing and hearing the person in front of us and understanding that person as a distinct individual."

Top Lung Cancer Data From ASCO 2024 Should Change Practice “Immediately,” Experts Agree

Thoracic oncology was a major focus of the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, says Sandip P. Patel, MD, a medical oncologist and professor of medicine at the University of California San Diego. Practice-changing data were presented in both non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC), Dr. Patel told Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. 

What Were the Biggest Data at ASCO 2024 in Kidney Cancer?

The biggest data at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in kidney cancer focused on biomarkers, says Brian I. Rini, MD, chief of clinical trials and the Ingram Professor of Cancer Research at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville. He discussed data from KEYNOTE-426 and several other key trials with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. 

What New “Elephant in the Room” Means for Bladder Cancer Care

Enfortumab vedotin plus pembrolizumab (EV/pembro) has “become the elephant in the room” when it comes to bladder cancer care, says Jonathan E. Rosenberg, MD, chief of genitourinary oncology service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. At the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, he discussed recent key advances in urothelial carcinoma treatment with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. 

Immunotherapy in “Hardest Stage” of NSCLC: Putting Recent Advances Into Practice

Immunotherapy in “Hardest Stage” of NSCLC: Putting Recent Advances Into Practice Our host, Robert A. Figlin, MD, FACP, welcomes Melissa L. Johnson, MD, as a guest  

”We’re Past the Inflection Point,” as ”Massive Change” Hits Breast Cancer Care

From ASCO 2024.   When it comes to the use of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) in breast cancer care, "we're past the inflection point," says Hope S. Rugo, MD, a breast cancer oncologist and professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of California San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

To Get Better Cancer Drugs Faster, Is It Time for an “International FDA”?

From ASCO 2024 The time it takes for a novel cancer therapy to go from investigational new drug application to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval is typically longer than a decade. “There has to be a better way,” says Bob T. Li, MD, PhD, MPH, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and associate professor of medicine at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.