In this episode of SurgOnc Today®'s Surgical Oncology Insight series, Dr. Shishir Maithel, Editor of Surgical Oncology Insight, discusses with Dr. Rita Mukhtar contemporary neoadjuvant therapy approaches to the treatment of breast cancer, with a focus on the interplay between imaging, systemic therapy, radiotherapy, and surgical management, as reported in her article, "The Neoadjuvant Approach to Treatment of Breast Cancer: Multidisciplinary Management to Improve Outcomes."

In this episode of SurgOnc Today®, Dr. Cord Sturgeon and Dr. Mahsa Javid are joined by Dr. Eduardo Guzmán Huerta, Dr. Juan Pablo Pantoja, and Professor Brian Lang to discuss factors affecting management of thyroid cancer with this group of experts who have a wealth of experience in different parts of the globe. Considerations affecting decision making and treatment options, adjuvant testing, adjuncts to surgery, overall costs and the system factors that need to be taken into account in the treatment and follow up of patients with thyroid cancer are explored. The discussed contributes towards advancing our understanding of worldwide processes and challenges in the management of thyroid cancer.

Dr. Rick Greene discusses with Dr. Heather Neuman and Dr. Alyssa Wiener the results of a randomized trial of topical pain approaches for radiotracer injections for breast cancer sentinel lymph node mapping, as reported in her article, "A Four-Arm Randomized Clinical Trial of Topical Pain Control for Sentinel Node Radiotracer Injections in Patients with Breast Cancer.”

In this episode of SurgOnc Today®, Prakash Pandalai, MD, Georgios Karagkounis, MD, and Fadwa Ali, MD, review the evolution of the Watch and Wait strategies in the management of rectal cancer patients with an emphasis on challenges, current clinical trials, and future directions.

This podcast was recorded on September 30, which is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada and features an interview with Dr. Nadine Caron, who was the first Indigenous female surgeon in Canada. Dr. Caron shares her experience and perspectives from her leadership roles in health equity for First Nations peoples in Northern British Columbia with Dr. Cord Sturgeon and Dr. Mahsa Javid. The conversation explores the inequities in cancer care and cancer outcomes among Indigenous Peoples. Cancer incidence and survival among Indigenous People, gaps in knowledge, drivers of inequity, and a path forward for developing trust are discussed.

In this inaugural episode of the Surgical Oncology Insight series of SurgOnc Today®, Dr. Shishir Maithel, Editor of Surgical Oncology Insight, SSO's open-access journal, discusses with Dr. Brett Ecker the results of a systematic review and meta-analysis characterizing the incidence of cfDNA-positivity after resection of colorectal cancer liver metastases  with quantification of its sensitivity and specificity for postoperative recurrence, as reported in his article, "The Prognostic Role of Post-operative cfDNA after Resection of Colorectal Liver Metastases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis."

The surgical management of superficial soft tissue sarcoma require a multidisciplinary surgical team given the defect and reconstruction required from an extended resection to achieve negative margins. This team most often includes the primary surgeon (surgical oncology or orthopedic oncology) and a plastic surgeon.  A critical decision in the treatment plan is whether or not to reconstruct immediately at the index operation or delay final reconstruction pending pathologic assessment of margins.  In this podcast, we will focus on the multidisciplinary surgical approach for superficial sarcoma. We will highlight the role of delayed reconstruction and key clinical considerations in this approach. 

Please listen in as Drs. Piltin, van Akkooi, and Hyngstrom discuss relevant clinical trial presentations from ASCO 2024 annual meeting and their impressions on the implications for surgical oncologists. Abstracts results discussed include the neoadjuvant NADINA and PIVOTAL trials as well as an initial report on upfront TIL therapy for stage IV patients.

In this episode of SurgOnc Today®, Dr. Patrick Sullivan is joined by Dr. Nicole Lopez and Dr. César Reátegui to discuss diverting ostomy. Current practice guidelines suggest that diverting ostomy is the standard of care in surgical management of rectal cancer after neoadjuvant therapy to minimize the risk of clinically significant leak which can then result in permanent colostomy. However, the risk of anastomotic leak after neoadjuvant chemoradiation ranges from 4-12% suggesting that most patients have unnecessary ostomy and additional surgery. With improvement of surgical techniques, utilization of robotic surgery and recent adoption of more TNT approaches, selective use of diverting ostomy will lead to improvement in QOL and decrease in health care costs with minimal impact on incidence of permanent colostomy.

In this podcast, the relatively new ASCO guidelines for breast cancer genetic testing will be discussed. The differences between these and other guidelines, such as ASBrS and NCCN, will be discussed. In addition, the different testing options and implications of positive results will be reviewed.