The discovery of EGFR as a driver mutation and the development of medications to take advantage of this mutation changed the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) forever. Not only did it vastly improve outcomes for patients with this subset of cancers, it opened the door for the likes of alectinib, lorlatinib and sotorasib to carve out niches for their own driver mutations. However, the treatment remains imperfect and people much smarter than Josh and Michael have been hard at work trying to improve on the current standard of care, osimertinib. This brings us to MARIPOSA, a study that combined the dual EGFR-MET bispecific antibody amivantamab with the CNS-penetrant anti-EGFR TKI lazertinib, and uniquely compared it to osimertinib. Will this combination dethrone the king and rule the roost in EGFRmut NSCLC? Or will excessive toxicity and logistical concerns consign it to a niche at best? Listen on to find out!

Links to studies discussed in this episode (subscription may be required):

MARIPOSA: Link

For more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com

Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc!

If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at [email protected]

Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is recorded with the support of education grants from Pfizer, Gilead Pharmaceuticals and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Our partners have no editorial rights or early previews, and they have access to the episode at the same time you do.

Art courtesy of Taryn Silver

Music courtesy of AlisiaBeats: https://pixabay.com/users/alisiabeats-39461785/

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is rare on any show to be able to interview a true pioneer. On today's episode of Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind, we have the privilege of interviewing Dr Janet Abrahm, a pioneer in every sense of the word. An internist with over 20 years experience, Dr Abrahm was one of the founders and earliest proponents of palliative care in the United States. A staff specialist at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, she is board-certified in Hematology, Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Oncology. She has lectured on palliative care in the DFCI Master Course for oncologists throughout the US. Since 2010 she has participated internationally in the Education in Palliative and End-of-Life (EPEC)-Oncology course as a Master teacher. Most recently, she was the recipient of the 2024 Walther Cancer Foundation Supportive Oncology Award, recognising a distinguished lecturer and leader with multiple, significant, and enduring contributions to palliative and supportive care in oncology through the prevention, assessment and management of cancer- and treatment-related suffering. Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is truly privileged to have Dr Abrahm on the show.

For more information on Dr Abrahm, or to subscribe to her palliative care newsletter, visit: https://janetabrahm.com/

For more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com

Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc!

If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at [email protected]

Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is recorded with the support of education grants from Pfizer, Gilead Pharmaceuticals and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Our partners have no editorial rights or early previews, and they have access to the episode at the same time you do.

Art courtesy of Taryn Silver

Music courtesy of AlisiaBeats: https://pixabay.com/users/alisiabeats-39461785/

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we interview Dr Elias Chandran, a medical oncologist and emerging research juggernaut who is an assistant research physician at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. His focus is on genitourinary cancer, and he has recently published a pivotal systematic review and meta-analysis titled "Mismatch repair deficiency and microsatellite instability-high in urothelial carcinoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis".

Dr Chandran is the epitome of a resilient clinician, having trained and worked in multiple countries and taking every opportunity granted to him. For any trainees or junior medical staff curious about oncology careers and how to make the most of your journey, Elias's story is one not to miss.

To find out more about Elias and his research, click here: Link

For more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com

Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc!

If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at [email protected]

Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is recorded with the support of education grants from Pfizer, Gilead Pharmaceuticals and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Our partners have no editorial rights or early previews, and they have access to the episode at the same time you do.

Art courtesy of Taryn Silver

Music courtesy of AlisiaBeats: https://pixabay.com/users/alisiabeats-39461785/

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, Michael and Josh interview Professor Meredith Broussard to discuss Artificial Intelligence (AI), its role in cancer diagnosis, her journey with breast cancer and her inspiration for her latest book, More than a Glitch. Meredith is a data journalist at the Arthur L Carter Journalism Institute of New York University and has had an exceptionally versatile career, previously having worked as a software developer for MIT Media Lab and a former features editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer.

She is also the author of numerous other books, including Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech and Artificial Unintelligence. She is the research director at the NYU Alliance for Public Interest Technology.

For further information on Meredith, please see the link below:

Professor Meredith Broussard

For more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com

Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc!

If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at [email protected]

Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is recorded with the support of education grants from Pfizer, Gilead Pharmaceuticals and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Our partners have no editorial rights or early previews, and they have access to the episode at the same time you do.

Art courtesy of Taryn Silver

Music courtesy of AlisiaBeats: https://pixabay.com/users/alisiabeats-39461785/

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Here at last, at the edge of the sea, comes the end of our Fellowship." So said Gandalf the White at the conclusion of J.R.R Tolkien's epic The Lord of the Rings. Today, Josh and Michael have a no less epic conclusion to their own adventure, that of ASCO 2024. Over the last fifteen days, our intrepid hosts have journeyed across the world of medical oncology, from the highs of colorectal, breast and lung cancer to the dark days of central nervous system tumours. As is our tradition, we end our coverage with a look at the studies chosen by the ASCO committee as worthy of special attention: the plenary presentations. It is rare indeed to have four presentations in one year that all change clinical practice, but that is what we have been treated to this year.

Thank you for joining us for coverage of ASCO 2024; we have enjoyed ourselves immensely in covering it, and we hope you have enjoyed our meandering journey through some of the best oncology researchers in the world. We will be back in a couple of weeks as Oncology for the Inquisitive arm returns to its normal programming.

Links to studies discussed in this episode (subscription may be required):

ESOPEC: Link

NADINA: Link

LAURA: Link

ADRIATIC: Link

For more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com

Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc!

If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at [email protected]

Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is recorded with the support of education grants from Pfizer, Gilead Pharmaceuticals and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Our partners have no editorial rights or early previews, and they have access to the episode at the same time you do.

Art courtesy of Taryn Silver

Music courtesy of AlisiaBeats: https://pixabay.com/users/alisiabeats-39461785/

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today is the penultimate episode in our ASCO 2024 Odyssey. Michael and Josh have neglected sarcoma to date, but today is the day@ Sarcoma is rare, where clinician experience becomes paramount to treatment options and outcomes. They develop in soft tissues and bones and vary in origin, including deep soft tissue, bone, nerves, etc. Today, they explore three trials. The first is paclitaxel and avelumab in inoperable angiosarcoma, the second is perioperative radiotherapy with adjuvant immunotherapy in high-risk soft tissue sarcoma, and the final is a good old head-to-head trial of perioperative chemotherapy in soft tissue sarcoma (adriamycin plus ifosfamide vs gemcitabine and docetaxel.

Links to studies discussed in this episode (subscription may be required)

SU2C-SARCO32: Link

JCOG1306: Link

Phase II trial, multicenter, first-line paclitaxel-avelumab treatment for inoperable angiosarcoma: Link

For more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com

Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc!

If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at [email protected]

Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is recorded with the support of education grants from Pfizer, Gilead Pharmaceuticals and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Our partners have no editorial rights or early previews, and they have access to the episode at the same time you do.

Art courtesy of Taryn Silver

Music courtesy of AlisiaBeats: https://pixabay.com/users/alisiabeats-39461785/

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some consider the number 13 unlucky; fear of the number has its own name, "triskaidekaphobia." So it is perhaps somewhat fitting that day 13 of our ASCO Odyssey is dedicated to the cancer type with which scientists and doctors have had arguably the least luck in treating: central nervous system cancers. We still await CNS oncology's immunotherapy or EGFR/ALK moment, and unfortunately, as of ASCO 2024, that has not come yet. However, that has not stopped legions of incredibly dedicated and intelligent people from trying. ASCO 2024 brought us several very interesting studies, both in form and function, that we hope will lay the groundwork for that magical breakthrough in this very difficult group of cancers.

Links to studies discussed in this episode (subscription may be required)

A phase II trial of olaparib and durvalumab in patients with recurrent IDH-mutated gliomas. Link

Evaluation of VAL-083 in GBM AGILE, a phase 3 registration platform trial for newly diagnosed and recurrent glioblastoma. Link

N2M2/NOA-20: Phase I/IIa umbrella trial of molecularly matched targeted therapies plus radiotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma without MGMT promoter hypermethylation. Link

Alliance A071401: Phase II trial of abemaciclib in patients with grade 2/3 meningiomas harboring somatic NF2 or CDK pathway alterations. Link

For more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com

Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc!

If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at [email protected]

Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is recorded with the support of education grants from Pfizer, Gilead Pharmaceuticals and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Our partners have no editorial rights or early previews, and they have access to the episode at the same time you do.

Art courtesy of Taryn Silver

Music courtesy of AlisiaBeats: https://pixabay.com/users/alisiabeats-39461785/

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ASCO 2024 beat many attendees' expectations with interesting and thought-provoking lung cancer and mesothelioma studies. While not all of these will change the face of patient treatment, they will add to a body of evidence for biomarkers and build on the blocks of tailoring treatment to patients.

Links to studies discussed in this episode (subscription may be required):

BEAT-meso: Link

Checkmate 816 4 year update: Link

MIST5: Link

ctDNA-Lung-DETECT: Link

BEAT-SC: Link

For more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com

Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc!

If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at [email protected]

Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is recorded with the support of education grants from Pfizer, Gilead Pharmaceuticals and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Our partners have no editorial rights or early previews, and they have access to the episode at the same time you do.

Art courtesy of Taryn Silver

Music courtesy of AlisiaBeats: https://pixabay.com/users/alisiabeats-39461785/

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our coverage of ASCO 2024 has rounded the final bend, and the finish line is in sight. Today, Josh and Michael examine four studies in the head and neck cancer space. Today's studies include a novel, viral-driven vector that aims to increase the immune response to treatment, potential treatment for the very rare nasal squamous cell cancer, data supporting the treatment of patients with poor prognosis and head and neck patients, and a new, intensive immunotherapy treatment for nasopharyngeal cancer. A wide variety of studies that are sure to satisfy a broad range of palates!

Links to studies discussed in this episode (subscription may be required):

TARGET-HPV: Link

Phase 3 randomized study for evaluation of physician choice Rx versus best supportive care as second-line or beyond therapy in head and neck cancer with poor performance status: Link

KCSG HN18-07: Link

Tislelizumab versus placebo combined with induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy and adjuvant tislelizumab or placebo for locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma: Interim analysis of a multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, phase 3 trial: LinkFor more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com

Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc!

If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at [email protected]

Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is recorded with the support of education grants from Pfizer, Gilead Pharmaceuticals and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Our partners have no editorial rights or early previews, and they have access to the episode at the same time you do.

Art courtesy of Taryn Silver

Music courtesy of AlisiaBeats: https://pixabay.com/users/alisiabeats-39461785/

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ASCO 2024 never seems to end, and today, Michael and Josh do a bit of a backflip and report on the advancements in early colorectal cancer. Forever a confusing topic with PRODIGE23, OPRA, and many other rectal cancer trials and a spattering of neoadjuvant colorectal trials, the ability to redefine and provide clarity to this area is pertinent. Today, it heavily focuses on immunotherapy in the colon space with sintilimab and IBI310 battling it out with the old master pembrolizumab. The rectal contingent is the TNTCRT trial, looking at total neoadjuvant therapy vs concurrent chemoradiotherapy. While the world may have moved forward, this trial could provide further evidence of the path we should be taking.

Links to studies discussed in this episode (subscription may be required)

NEOPRISM-CRC: Link

TNTCRC: Link

Neoadjuvant treatment of IBI310 (anti-CTLA-4 antibody) plus sintilimab (anti-PD-1 antibody) in patients with microsatellite instability-high/mismatch repair-deficient colorectal cancer: Results from a randomized, open-labelled, phase Ib study: Link

For more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com

Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc!

If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at [email protected]

Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is recorded with the support of education grants from Pfizer, Gilead Pharmaceuticals and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Our partners have no editorial rights or early previews, and they have access to the episode at the same time you do.

Art courtesy of Taryn Silver

Music courtesy of AlisiaBeats: https://pixabay.com/users/alisiabeats-39461785/

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.