The Beacon

By H. Jack West, MD

Dr. Jack West reviews emerging new information and controversial topics in health care in general, cancer treatment in particular.... more

Download on the App Store

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

FAQs about The Beacon:

How many episodes does The Beacon have?

The podcast currently has 75 episodes available.

The Beacon episodes:

February 22, 2018 Is Durvalumab (Imfinzi) in Stage III NSCLC Curing Patients or Just Treating Metastatic Disease Earlier? Importance of Overall Survival and Implications for Duration of Treatment (BMIC-025)
Dr. Jack West explores the importance of following the overall survival of patients on the PACIFIC trial and considers still open questions of whether consolidation durvalumab (Imfinzi) in stage III unresectable NSCLC should be discontinued after a year.
...more
7min
February 20, 2018 Durvalumab (Imfinzi) FDA Approved for Stage III NSCLC: Should It Become Standard of Care Without Overall Survival Benefit Demonstrated? (BMIC-024)
Dr. Jack West reviews key results of the PACIFIC trial of the immunotherapy agent durvalumab (Imfinzi) vs. placebo in stage III NSCLC and explains the pros and cons of durvalumab as a new standard of care after concurrent chemoradiation.
...more
8min
January 22, 2018 A New Treatment Option for Uncommon EGFR Mutations (BMIC-023)
Dr. Jack West reviews the new FDA approval for afatinib (Gilotrif) for specific uncommon EGFR mutations, including G719X, L861Q, and S768I, in advanced NSCLC.
...more
7min
January 20, 2018 Chemo-Immunotherapy in Non-Squamous NSCLC: Has the KEYNOTE-189 Trial Defined a Clear Standard of Care? (BMIC-022)
Dr. Jack West reviews the results and pending questions of the KEYNOTE-189 trial of chemotherapy with or without pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA) as first line therapy for advanced non-squamous NSCLC, as well as how they change the treatment landscape.
...more
9min
December 21, 2017 T Effector Gene Signature on IMpower150: Is There a Better Biomarker than PD-L1 for Immunotherapy? (BMIC-021)
Dr. Jack West reviews provocative biomarker results on the IMpower150 trial that tested atezolizumab with carboplatin/paclitaxel +/- bevacizumab & revealed strongest benefit of atezo in those with T effector gene signature high expression or high PD-L1.
...more
11min
December 18, 2017 Atezolizumab in First Line NSCLC: Early Clinical Results from the IMpower150 Trial (BMIC-020)
Dr. Jack West reviews the preliminary clinical results on the IMpower150 trial that tested the value of adding the immune checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab to carbo/paclitaxel/bevacizumab in patients with chemo-naïve advanced non-squamous NSCLC.
...more
12min
December 11, 2017 Genomic Sequencing for All Solid Tumors: Where Will This Lead Us? (BMIC-019)
Dr. Jack West reviews the implications, both encouraging and potentially detrimental, of a recent FDA approval for broad genomic (NGS) testing of all solid tumors, ushering in a new era of growing precision medicine and molecular oncology.
...more
9min
December 08, 2017 New Target & Treatment in Advanced NSCLC: Dabrafenib/Trametinib for BRAF V600E Mutation-Positive NSCLC (BMIC-018)
Dr. Jack West reviews data on the FDA-approved combination of dabrafenib/trametinib for patients with BRAF V600E mutation-positive advanced NSCLC, as published by Planchard & colleagues in Lancet Oncology.
...more
7min
December 01, 2017 Should Osimertinib Become First-Line Treatment of Choice for EGFR Mutation-Positive Advanced NSCLC, or Should it Be Saved for Later? (BMIC-017)
Dr. Jack West reviews the pros and cons of using osimertinib first line vs. "saving" it as a second line therapy, trying to determine the optimal sequence for EGFR-directed therapy in advanced EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC.
...more
12min
November 28, 2017 Dacomitinib: Dark Horse EGFR TKI Charges into a Crowded First Line Setting for EGFR Mutation-Positive Advanced NSCLC (BMIC-016)
Dr. Jack West reviews the results of the ARCHER-1050 trial that showed superior efficacy with dacomitinib vs. gefitinib in EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC. Is it too little, too late for dacomitinib, or can it find a place in a crowded first line setting?
...more
8min

FAQs about The Beacon:

How many episodes does The Beacon have?

The podcast currently has 75 episodes available.