Oncology News Central Peer-Spectives

Myelofibrosis Remains Tough to Treat, But New Drugs Are Paving the Way

Listen as Gabriela Hobbs, MD, clinical director of the leukemia atMass General, talks with Bob Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology Oncology at Cedars-Sinai Cancer in Los Angeles, about the latest progress in the treatment of myelofibrosisand how she both assesses new patients and plans their treatment. New agents, including JAK2 inhibitors,are not curative but can have substantial effects on patients and open up further treatment options. Dr. Hobbs also talks about new drug classes on the horizon and what to expect at the upcoming ASH meeting.

KRAS Inhibition in NSCLC: When, How, and Why?

Melissa Johnson, MD,a medical oncologist with Tennessee Oncology and Director of Lung Cancer Research at Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville,joins host Robert Figlin, MD, Steven Spielberg Family Chair in HematologyOncologyat Cedars-Sinai Cancer, to talk about KRAS G12C inhibition in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)treatment. She talks about how she uses sotorasib (Lumakras), which is U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)approved for second-line treatment, why plasma-based genetic testing is so important, and how she explains to patients that even though she can’t start them off with this drug in the first-line, having it in reserve is a good plan.    

Strategies for Navigating a Hematology/Oncology Fellowship

The key steps to launching a successful and professionally fulfilling hematology/oncology fellowship is to “reflect, project, and adapt,” according to Gerald Hsu, MD, PhD, associate clinical professor of medicine and director of the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program at UCSF. Dr. Hsu spoke with Robert Figlin, MD, to discuss how new fellows can best navigate the opportunities they’re presented with. Dr. Hsu recommends reflecting on your areas of passion and interest, projecting what you’ll need 10 years down the road, and adapting your goals as your priorities and interests evolve.

Taking Aim at MET and KRAS in NSCLC

Tejas Patil, MD, assistant professor of medical oncology at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, talks with Robert A. Figlin, MD, about new targeted therapies for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), particularly tepotinib (Tepmetko) for MET exon 14 and sotorasib (Lumakras) for KRAS G12C. The MET exon 14 skip mutation has attracted renewed attention because tepotinib and capmatinib (Tabrecta), which both target this mutation, recently received FDA approvals. But MET can be disrupted in other ways, as well. Listen as Dr. Patil discusses the different types of MET alterations, how to identify MET activation in patients, and best practices for using tepotinib to treat MET activation that arises as a resistance mechanism to the EGFR inhibitor osimertinib (Tagrisso).

Mantle Cell Lymphoma: Optimizing Current Therapies

  Jonathan Cohen, MD, MS, Associate Professor, Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine, , joins OBR Editor-in-Chief Robert Figlin, MD, to talk about mantle cell lymphoma. Dr. Cohen describes the key to making a correct diagnosis and what the best frontline treatment approaches are for different patient groups. He also talks about how BTK inhibitors and CAR T-cell therapy are shifting the treatment landscape and what he’s anticipating will be presented at upcoming conferences. “One of the things I know I've learned about mantle cell lymphoma is that if you wait six months, something new will come down the come down the pipeline,” Dr Cohen said.

COSMIC-313 trial and the Complex Treatment Landscape for Metastatic Renal Cell Cancer: How Do You Decide?

Bob Figlin, MD, and Toni Choueiri, MD, the director of the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discuss the early results from the COSMIC-313 trial, which Dr. Choueiri presented at ESMO 2022. The trial enrolled previously untreated patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell cancer who were classified as intermediate- to poor-risk. Standard of care doublet therapy, nivolumab (nivo) plus ipilimumab (ipi), was compared with triplet therapy, consisting of nivo-ipi plus cabozantinib. Triplet therapy improved progression-free survival compared with doublet therapy, specifically in the intermediate-risk group. Dr. Choueiri also discussed the complicated landscape in RCC and how practicing oncologists can evaluate patients for appropriate treatments as well as how to communicate effectively with patients about the factors that contribute to that decision.

Finding Joy in Work: ASCO’s Career Development Resources Help Trainees Choose Their Path

Bob Figlin, MD, and Jamie Von Roenn, MD, discuss strategies for learning about the oncology specialty earlier in the training pipeline, particularly for under-represented groups. They also look at opportunities for oncology fellows to build skills in different career areas.  

Considering an Oncology Fellowship? Listen to This First

Gerald Hsu, MD, PhD, UCSF’s hematology/oncology fellowship program director, joins Robert Figlin, MD, to talk about what fellowship programs are looking for in applicants, how trainees can find programs that are a good fit, and why preparing for an interview improves the odds you land at the right spot for you.

Kidney Cancer at a Crossroads: What New Trial Results Could Mean for Patients

Michael B. Atkins, MD, and Robert Figlin, MD, discuss results from the EVEREST clinical trial as well as new data on TKIs, immunotherapy, and HIF-2 inhibitors. They also discuss adjuvant therapy and how depth of response differs between immunotherapy and TKIs, and look ahead to what the future holds.

How to Choose CLL Treatments in the Frontline Setting

Danielle Brander, MD, talks with Robert Figlin, MD, about selecting frontline treatments for CLL and how she talks with patients about their treatment options. “What I think is unique about the last few years is we’ve seen multiple randomized trials in the frontline setting that have shown not only superior progression-free survival … but several of those randomized studies also showing improvement in overall survival versus chemoimmunotherapy,” Dr. Brander said. “I think it’s really important for us to be considering these novel treatment options.”