The Onco'Zine Brief

The Netherlands-born writer Manon Rinsma is the author of a new book called “13 Diamonds – Life before death from a Child’s Perspective.

In her book, Rinsma writes about losing her mother at a very young age - something so traumatic that it completely changed how she viewed the world. Rinsma's mother died of a form of brain cancer.

For her remaining family - finding an answer to the question "how do you help a child when a family member has cancer," was not only difficult, it was also one without a definite answer.How do you help a child:

- If the family member is a parent, father or mother, or a sibling, brother or sister.
- To understand a parent’s illness? An illness such as cancer - especially if there is no hope for a cure?

For most people this is a very painful and personal topic, be hard to deal with and emotional. Some people don’t want to talk about it at all because they don’t understand the disease. By the time a patient’s is told that his or her cancer is terminal, he or she has probably already been dealing with it for a while and its effects on the family may even be clearly noticeable. This may be the case, for many months or even years.

But in other cases, a patient may find out that he or she has cancer when the disease is quite advanced. As a result, they may not have a lot of time to deal with the effects on their family. If there is time, it may be good to help the child prepare for the loss of a parent. Preparing means to give them information and support. This helps them understand what to expect.

The pain of losing a parent may be worse if a child is not prepared. It may confuse them, hurt them, and make them angry that important facts – explained on the level of understanding of the child’s age – where not shared with them.

Children truly rely on parents to bring order and security into their lives. Parents help them understand the world around them and their place in it. But no matter how long cancer has been part of a patient’s life, it still can be very hard for him or her and their loved ones to think about all the things that go along with the end of life. The remaining partner may understand what this means.But what does it mean for a child to lose a parent?

What are the psychosocial effects – now and later in life? Especially if this is a parent and the child is still young?

In this edition of The Onco'Zine Brief we will try to answer some common questions parents have and help patients take important steps to prepare a child to cope with death. Although it’s not possible to control the reality of dying, it is possible to make a real difference in how a child manage it … and go on with his or her lives after a parent is gone.

Rinsma’s book is proof of all of this.

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In this Edition of the OncoZine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D and Sonia Portillo talk with Amit Kumar, Ph.D, Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer of ITUS Corporation Executive Chairman of Anixa Diagnostics Corporation

Dr. Kumar, is the inventor of the company’s Cchek™ technology for the early detection of tumor-based cancers and has been an investor, founder, director and CEO of several technology enterprises, both public and private.

In today’s program Hofland and Portillo talk with Dr. Kumar about cancer, the evolution of cancer diagnostics since the signing of the National Cancer Act and the start of the ‘War on cancer’ in the 1970’s and the development of new technologies designed to detect cancer early – with the clear advantage of being able to treat cancer sooner, which may lead to better results and offer a survival advantage.

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In this episode of The Onco'Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D and Sonia Portillo talk with Dr. Joseph M. Connors, MD., FRCPC, Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, at the University of British Columbia and the chair of the Lymphoma Tumor Group for the British Columbia Cancer Agency.

Dr. Connors is also the lead investigator of the ECHELON-1 clinical trial, a trial focusing on a new treatment option for Hodgekin Lymphoma.

In this interview Hofland and Portillo talks with Dr. Connor about some of the latest results from the ECHELON-1 clinical trial, which tests an antibody-drug conjugate or ADC called brentuximab vedotin (ADCETRIS; being developed by Seattle Genetics and Takeda), as a frontline treatment option for patients with advanced classical Hodgkin Lymphoma. They also talk with Dr. Connors about how the ECHELON-1 study was conducted, and why it is important for this patient group, and for cancer research as a whole.

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In this episode of The OncoZine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D and Sonia Portillo talk with Thomas Yankeelov, Ph.D, a computational biomedical engineer who came to The University of Texas at Austin from Vanderbilt University, where he served as the Ingram Professor of Cancer Research; professor of radiology and radiological sciences, physics, biomedical engineering and cancer biology; and director of cancer imaging research. He also served as a co-leader of the Host-Tumor Interactions Research Program for the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.

Thomas Yankeelov serves as Director of Cancer Imaging Research in the LIVESTRONG Cancer Institutes of the Dell Medical School. He holds the W.A. "Tex" Moncrief Jr., Simulation-Based Engineering and Sciences Professorship II – Computational Oncology and leads the Tumor Modeling Group in the university’s Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences.

Yankeelov is the recipient of a distinguished US $ 6 million recruitment grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). He was The University of Texas’ first faculty member to hold positions in both the engineering and medical schools.

Yankeelov clinical research focuses on improving patient care by employing advanced imaging methods for the early identification, assessment and prediction of tumors and their response to therapy.

He has developed successful tumor-forecasting methods by combining imaging technologies with patient-specific data to build predictive, multi-scale biophysical models of tumor growth. His research emphasizes the importance of offering personalized therapies to cancer patients. Yankeelov is a fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers and has served on the editorial boards of scientific publications.

The overall goal of Yankeelov's clinical research is to improve patient care by employing advanced imaging methods for the early identification, assessment, and prediction of tumors' response to therapy. In order todo that, he has developed tumor forecasting methods by integrating advanced imaging technologies with patient-specific data and builds predictive, multi-scale biophysical models of tumor growth with the purpose of optimizing therapies for the individual cancer patient.

In this interview Yankeelov, Hofland and Portillo ask about computational oncology, what this is and how it fits in cancer treatment. They also ask about oncology models, what these models are trying to tell us, and how are they developed and how using these cancer models leads to a different way in looking at cancer.

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In this edition of The OncoZine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D and Sonia Portillo talk Sean McCarthy, D.Phil, President and Chief Executive Officer of CytomX, a biotechnology company developing a novel 'Probody Platform' which allows them to design therapeutic drugs that selectively activate in the tumor microenvironment while reducing drug activity in healthy tissue and in circulation.

In addition to his work for CytomX, McCarthy is the author on multiple peer-reviewed scientific publications, issued patents and filed patent applications.

CytomX is unlocking the potential of antibody therapeutics in oncology by developing a novel therapeutic antibody class of highly targeted Probody™ therapeutics.

In this interview, Hofland and Portillo ask McCarty about the history of of Cytomx, the development of a new class of highly targeted drugs, basic research and the company’s collaboration with industry partners.

In late 2017, Bristol-Myers Squibb, one of the company's industry partners, received acceptance of the Investigational New Drug application (IND) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a CTLA-4-directed Probody™ therapeutic. CTLA-4, the clinically validated target of the Bristol-Myers Squibb checkpoint inhibitor ipilimumab (Yervoy®), the first target to advance into the clinic under the companies’ strategic collaboration formed in May 2014.

Hofland and Portillo also ask McCarty about the future potential of his company's Probody therapeutics and how this technology may ultimately change cancer treatment. They ask him where this technology fits in with other available cancer treatments, which patient populations can ultimately benefit most from Probody Therapeutics, and how these novel agents address the currently unmet medical needs of patients.

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In this episode of The OncoZine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D and Sonia Portillo talk with Gisela Schwab, MD, President, Product Development and Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer at Exelixis.

Following early work in model genetic systems, Exelixis, a genomics-based drug discovery company located in South San Francisco, CA, established a broad drug discovery and development platform that has served as the foundation for the company’s continued efforts to bring new cancer therapies to patients in need. The company discovered and developed its lead compounds, cabozantinib and cobimetinib, and advanced them into clinical development before entering into partnerships with leading biopharmaceutical companies in an effort to bring these medicines to patients globally.

Hofland and Portillo ask Schwab about hepatocellular carcinoma or HCC, the most common, primary malignancy of the liver and the fifth most common cancer in men, worldwide, and seventh among women, with the highest incidence in Asian and developing countries. They talk about the disease, diagnoses and treatment. And they talk about Exelixis' global phase III Celestial trial with cabozantinib (Cabometyx®) , a novel cancer agent which met its primary endpoint of overall survival (OS), and providing a clinically meaningful improvement in median OS compared to placebo in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

In their concluding commentary Hofland and Portillo talk about the process of cancer staging.

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In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D and Sonia Portillo are speaking with Joshua A. Hill, MD, an Associate in Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle Washington. Dr. Hill is also an attending physician at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, as well as an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington.

In today's show Hofland and Portillo ask Dr. Hill about CAR T cell therapy- a technology that holds very high expectations for the future of cancer care. In a number of clinical trials in certain severe cancer types, CAR-Ts have shown remission rates up to 94%, which is very impressive considering most patients in CAR T trials have not responded to many, if not all other available treatments.

The first two CAR-T have recently been approved- and now there are over 240 CAR-T clinical trials that are ongoing. And while the CAR-T field is booming, and the technology is very exciting, there are severe side effects in clinical trials that lead us to believe the technology might not be ready, or might not be worth it’s very high price tag.

Hofland and Portillo speak with Dr. Hill about some of his research regarding the risk of infection in CAR T patients, as well as his perspective on where this technology is going in the near future.

And finally, Hofland and Portillo talk about a new book – A Cure Within, published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press and written by veteran journalist and author Neil Canavan.

Canavan's book discusses the power of the immune system and tells the story of a the tenacious few medical scientists who refused to abandon novel scientific concepts.

Based entirely on interviews with medical researchers the book tells the story of the pioneers of immuno-oncology. It’s a story of failure, resurrection and success.

But above all, it’s a story about discovery and intuition and cunning. It’s a peek into the lives and thoughts of some of the most gifted men and women – the medical scientists – who are, on a daily basis - working hard to find a Cure for Cancer.

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In this edition of The OncoZine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D and Sonia Portillo review some of the interesting studies presented at the 59th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology – which took place December 9 – 12, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia.

They recap one of the most important healthcare conferences of the year, the annual meeting American Society of Hematology or ASH, one of these ‘must go to’ meetings for oncology and hematology specialists but also for oncology nurses, researchers, and patients alike.

In this episode they also interview Noopur Raje, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School; Director of the Multiple Myeloma Center at Massachusetts General Hospital Boston, Massachusetts

Dr. Raje is associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Multiple Myeloma Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. She spearheads a translational research program evaluating novel therapeutics in myeloma with a special interest in the biology of myeloma bone disease.

Dr. Raje is a member of the International Myeloma Working Group and NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee for Multiple Myeloma. Massachusetts General Hospital.

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In this Edition of The OncoZine Brief, brought to you from the 59th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology held December 9-12, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia, Peter Hofland, Ph.D and Sonia Portillo, B.Sc, the team behind the show, sat down with Phil Rowlands, Head, Oncology Therapeutic Area Unit, Takeda, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.

Takeda is a global, research and development-driven pharmaceutical company committed to bringing better health and a brighter future to patients by translating science into life-changing medicines. The company focuses its R&D efforts on oncology, gastroenterology and central nervous system therapeutic areas plus vaccines.

Founded in the United States 1998 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Takeda Pharmaceuticals is among the top 15 pharmaceutical companies in the United States.

In this program we talk with Phil Rowlands about the history of Takeda, the company's focus on oncology and hematology, basic research and collaboration with industry partners.

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For this edition of The Onco'Zine Brief, recorded during 59th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology held December 9 to 12, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia, Peter Hofland and Sonia Portillo, the team behind show, sat down with Steven E. Benner, M.D., Senior Vice President and Therapeutic Area Head for Oncology at Astellas Pharma.

In this interview Hofland and Portillo asks Benner about the many changes at Astellas, the company’s focus and some of the greatest challenges the company faces. They also talk about the definition of personalized medicine, precision medicine and targeted therapies – and the differences of these approaches beyond the typical ‘buzz words’ – and how personalized medicine, is changing the drug development process.

Hofland and Portillo also ask Benner to share his own impression of this years annual meeting ('Real dramatic progress in the development of novel therapeutic drugs designed to maximize the patient benefit...') and what he thinks is the most exciting clinical news presented.

And, finally, Hofland and Portillo talk with Benner about the results of a poster his company presented about the “Economic Burden of Treatment Episodes in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients in the U.S.” Which includes new information about the major drivers of economic burden for Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients and therapeutic strategies needed to deal with this burden.

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