Project Oncology®

TALAPRO-2 was a recent phase 3 study conducted in the first-line metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) setting. Patients were randomized to receive either enzalutamide plus talazoparib or enzalutamide plus placebo, and the researchers found that there was a 37 percent reduction in risk of progression or death among those who received enzalutamide plus talazoparib. Dive further into the findings and their implications for patients with mCRPC with Dr. Charles Turck and Dr. Neeraj Agarwal, Professor of Medicine at the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah.

A recent study sought to investigate why there are disparities in mortality as well as access and participation in clinical trials among vulnerable prostate cancer populations. According to the findings, counties in the United States that had the highest prostate cancer mortality were less likely to have any clinical trials in the area. Dive further into the results with Dr. Rishi Sekar, who presented the “Disparities in Prostate Cancer Mortality and Clinical Trial Availability Across Vulnerable Populations” session at the 2024 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

If hormonal therapies are not working for prostate cancer patients, chemotherapy may be a reliable alternative based on findings from a recent study. In fact, out of the 70 percent of patients who had pain when entering the study, 45 percent had their pain improved with chemotherapy. Dive more into the findings with Dr. Zachery Reichert, who presented the “Sequencing Hormonal Therapies After Treatment Intensification” session at the 2024 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

According to research featured at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting, novel immune checkpoint targets have the potential to inform drug development and combination strategies to optimize the care of patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Tune in to hear Dr. Jacob Sands explore the key findings with Dr. Aakash Desai, an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the O’Neal Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Recent estimates show that only 14 percent of cancers are detected through routine screening, meaning the majority of patients are diagnosed after the onset of clinical symptoms. But multi-cancer early detection (MCED) tests offer the opportunity to potentially expand our ability to detect cancer through a single blood draw. Explore how MCED tests might help bridge the gaps that exist in today’s cancer screening paradigm and the recent studies on these tests with Drs. Tom Beer and Betsy O’Donnell. Dr. Beer is the Chief Medical Officer for Multi-Cancer Early Detection at Exact Sciences Corporation, and Dr. O’Donnell is the Director of Early Detection and Prevention of Malignant Conditions at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

For patients who start out with hormone sensitive prostate cancer, there's a period of time where the prostate cancer cells are responsive to suppressing testosterone production. So there’s a nice disease response early in that time period after diagnosis and when initial treatment has begun, but how long is each patient going to respond to that initial treatment, and what role does the multidisciplinary team have? Dive in with Dr. Jessica Hawley, Medical Oncologist at Fred Hutch Cancer Center and an Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Between patient anxiety and insurance implications, there are several challenges associated with delivering germline testing to veterans with advanced prostate cancer. Learn more about these challenges and proposed solutions with Dr. Daniel Kwon, who presented the “Challenges in Patient-Centered Germline Testing Delivery for Veterans with Advanced Prostate Cancer” session at the 2024 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

Between 20 and 50 percent of patients with high-risk localized prostate cancer will develop biochemical resistance, but historically, no Level I evidence for treatment was available. That’s why the EMBARK study is the first phase 3 trial to develop Level I evidence looking at monotherapy T suppression versus monotherapy enzalutamide versus combination enzalutamide and leuprolide. Dive into the findings with Dr. Neal Shore, who presented the “Outcomes of Men with High-Risk Biochemically Recurrent Prostate Cancer Who Suspended Enzalutamide Monotherapy Treatment in the Phase 3 EMBARK Study” session at the 2024 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has recommended new guidelines for the treatment of prostate Cancer. In this episode, you’ll learn about the top three biggest changes to the NCCN guidelines. Tune in with Dr. Jessica Hawley, Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, who will also present this topic at the ASCO GU Symposium 2024.

NEOSTAR is a phase 2 trial with multiple arms looking at different combination therapies in the setting of resectable lung cancer. So what results were found from this study? Join in as Dr. Charles Turck discusses this further with Dr. Ravi Rajaram, Assistant Professor and the Clinical Medical Director in the Thoracic Center in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Division of Surgery, at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

According to a recent study, the immune checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab is not only considered safe, but it may also offer overall survival benefits for individuals with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and restricted performance status. Here to talk about this research are Dr. Jacob Sands and Dr. Liza Villaruz, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Join us as expert faculty, Dr. Adam Brufsky and Dr. Christopher Gallagher, discuss the qualities of credible real world evidence (RWE) publications, application of CDK4/6 inhibitor RWE in hormone receptor positive metastatic breast cancer, and integrating RWE into everyday clinical decision and shared decision making conversations. This 15-minute activity provides a practical discussion to increase clinician familiarity and comfort with RWE of CDK4/6 inhibitors in metastatic breast cancer and clinicians’ confidence in their ability to discuss RWE with their patients.

It’s very common for patients with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) to present with no underlying palpable mass, which may cause some challenges for clinicians and patients. So what are some unique challenges associated with surgery in IBC and the risks of deescalating? Join Dr. Filipa Lynce, Director of the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Program at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, as she reviews her research on IBC that she presented at the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a rare disease that represents about two to three percent of all breast cancers and is challenging to diagnose. To improve diagnosis, researchers are working to validate a new proposed scoring system. Review the current research with Dr. Flipia Lynce, Director of the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Program at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) is an understudied subtype that occurs in about 10 to 15 percent of breast cancer patients and is known to be difficult to detect by imaging. So how do we approach diagnosing and treating this subtype? Dr. Pavani Chalasani is joined by Dr. Jason Mouabbi, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Chair of the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance, to discuss his session on ILC at the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Acquired ESR1 mutations cannot be detected on archival tissue and require liquid biopsy. Fortunately, this approach circumvents the challenges of acquiring serial tissue while allowing for the real-time monitoring of ESR1 status in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Learn more about the rationale behind liquid biopsies and best practices for utilizing them in clinical practice with Dr. Charles Turck and Dr. Pavani Chalasani, Division Director of Hematology-Oncology at the GW Cancer Center in Washington, DC.

Recent studies have examined the implications of ESR1 mutations in metastatic breast cancer and found that ESR1 mutations predict poor response to subsequent endocrine therapy. These acquired mutations also correlate with aggressive disease and, by extension, worse prognosis. Dive further into these findings from various studies and how they might impact the way we treat patients with metastatic breast cancer with Dr. Pavani Chalasani and Dr. Marcela Mazo Canola, Assistant Professor at UT Health San Antonio’s Mays Cancer Center.

When treating patients with metastatic breast cancer, it’s important to repeatedly conduct liquid biopsies to look for acquired ESR1 mutations when patients progress after endocrine therapy, even if initial testing was done. That’s why Dr. Charles Turck is breaking down best practices for utilizing liquid biopsies to detect ESR1 mutations with Drs. Stephanie Graff and Pavani Chalasani. Dr. Graff is the Director of Breast Oncology at the Lifespan Cancer Institute in Providence, Rhode Island, and Dr. Chalasani is the Division Director of Hematology-Oncology at the GW Cancer Center in Washington, DC.

ESR1 mutations are frequently acquired during aromatase inhibitor treatment for HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer, making liquid biopsy monitoring vital to identify endocrine resistance. Learn more about this acquired mutation and how it can impact treatment with Dr. Mariya Rozenblit, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Section of Medical Oncology at the Yale School of Medicine.

While intrinsic mutations, like PIK3CA, are present at the outset and can be identified upfront in patients with HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer, acquired mutations, like ESR1, cannot be detected on baseline tumor profiling. That’s why longitudinal monitoring with liquid biopsies over the course of treatment is required. Learn more about these key differences in testing for acquired versus intrinsic mutations with Dr. Megan Kruse, a breast medical oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic.