Oncology News Central Peer-Spectives

When it comes to building support for cancer research in the current environment, “the message that we have had in our field is a good one. But we may need to craft a better message,” says Robert A. Winn, MD, director and Lipman Chair in Oncology at the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center in Richmond. Dr. Winn lays out a strategy designed to show the American public the benefits...

The addition of perioperative durvalumab in gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer improved event-free survival, according to findings from the MATTERHORN study. “This trial will be an important milestone,” said Yelena Y. Janjigian, MD, chief of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, who presented the findings at the 2025 American So...

Data from the SERENA-6 trial, presented at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, have the potential to dramatically change advanced estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer care, says William J Gradishar, MD, the Betsy Bramsen Professor of Breast Oncology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. The study showed benefit in switching...

Editor’s Note: This interview was recorded shortly before the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting . Big questions associated with ESR1 mutations in patients with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer may soon have answers. New data are “going to take the whole breast oncology field from one place and put it in a different place. It’s going to be an inflection point in our h...

The approach to ESR1 and PIK3CA mutations in patients with hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer continues to evolve. What role does circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) play in treatment decisions? How should oncologists best approach patients with PIK3CA mutations who subsequently develop ESR1 mutations? VK Gadi, MD, PhD , professor and director of medical oncology and deputy director of t...

The last few years have seen “a remarkable change in both our approach and management of EGFR lung cancer,” says Shirish M. Gadgeel, MD , division head for hematology/oncology and associate director of Patient Experience and Clinical Care at the Henry Ford Cancer Institute in Detroit. He discusses key considerations for managing EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer with Robert A. Figlin, MD , t...

When it comes to tackling fertility issues associated with cancer, “oncology clinicians are often reluctant to talk about this because it is really not our wheelhouse,” says Alison Wakoff Loren, MD, MSCE , chief of the Division of Hematology Oncology, director of Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation, and the C. Willard Robinson Professor of Hematology-Oncology at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia. Dr...

“Second-line [estrogen receptor (ER)]-positive breast cancer has just become very complicated,” says Erika P. Hamilton, MD , the director of breast cancer and gynecologic cancer research at Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville. She discusses the role of ESR1 mutations in selecting appropriate treatments and combination regimens for patients with ER-positive breast cancer who have disease p...

Burnout among oncologists is a  serious concern , and artificial intelligence (AI) represents a potential solution, says Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA , a practicing oncologist and breast cancer specialist in Austin, Texas, who also serves as the chair of the AI task force for the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Technological advances are poised to improve cancer care while reducing the document...

The standard approach of “7 + 3” chemotherapy in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treatment has been in place for 50 years. But that may soon change, says Maximilian Stahl, MD , a member of the Adult Leukemia Group at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and a member of the faculty at Harvard University. “My prediction is that in 10 years, you will not see much 7 + 3 anymore. Maybe not even 10 y...

Oncologist burnout and career dissatisfaction are a “huge problem,” says Robin T. Zon, MD, president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Dr. Zon sits down with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles, to discuss revelations from a recent ASCO report. “ASCO recognizes that if, in fact, we are go...

When it comes to end-of-life care for patients with cancer, “I think that there is a real deficit in our training,” says Nathan I. Cherny, MD, director of the Cancer Pain and Palliative Medicine Service at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel. Dr. Cherney and colleagues recently examined factors contributing to oncologists overtreating patients at the end of life. He discusses key find...

Recent advances in hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer have led to questions about the timing of genetic testing and the optimal treatment choices for patients. “I, like many others, have changed my personal practice,” says Azka Ali, MD, a medical oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute in Ohio. She and Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Fa...

The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Resilience Task Force recently released recommendations intended to reduce burnout in oncology worldwide. One of the task force’s members, Konstantinos Kamposioras, MD, PhD, a consultant in medical oncology at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester in the United Kingdom, explains to Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in...

When it comes to the treatment of EGFR-mutated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), osimertinib (Tagrisso) is an “old friend,” says Kamya Sankar, MD, assistant professor and co–medical director of the Thoracic Disease Research Group at Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. Recent approvals by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have introduced several “new friends,” in the form of...

“Cancer clinical research has been largely privatized,” explains Joseph Unger, PhD, MS, associate professor in the cancer prevention program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle. Dr. Unger and colleagues recently assessed patient enrollment in industry-sponsored and federally sponsored clinical trials. They found an 8:1 ratio favoring participation in research backed by industry. This r...

Treatment approaches for patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer have rapidly evolved, thanks in part to data from three key studies.  Erin Frances Cobain, MD , associate professor at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center in Ann Arbor, explains how findings from the KEYNOTE-756 , monarchE , and NATALEE clinical trials are influencing decision-making for t...

Approvals of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for metastatic breast cancer have introduced complex questions about HER2 expression. “It’s certainly been a changing landscape, which has been confusing for all of us,” explains Ian Krop, MD, PhD , director of the clinical trials office, chief clinical research officer, and associate director for clinical sciences at Yale Cancer Center in New Haven, Co...

Newly approved targeted therapies for patients with advanced hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer are changing care. “We have an abundance of opportunities, but challenges with having to choose the right opportunity at the right time,” says Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. Dr. Fig...

Data on the use of durvalumab after chemoradiotherapy transformed the standard of care for patients with unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). “This is a real practice-changing observation from the PACIFIC trial,” said Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. He recently spoke with Meghan M...

Results of the phase 3 LAURA clinical trial, presented at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, showed that osimertinib significantly improves progression-free survival in patients with unresectable stage III EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after chemoradiotherapy. “The benefits of osimertinib in this patient population when compared to placebo are just incr...

“I think the antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for physicians, and certainly patients too, are a little bit tough to wrap your head around,” says Erika P. Hamilton, MD, the director of breast cancer and gynecologic cancer research at Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville. She discusses how TROP2-targeting ADCs currently fit into practice with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family...

Various survivorship guidelines for pediatric patients have been established, but “such guidelines do not exist in the adult world,” says Smita Bhatia, MD, MPH, director of the Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship and the Gay and Bew White Endowed Professor in Pediatric Oncology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. With the number of adult cancer survivors rapidly rising, the time...

Obstacles to “achieving a good, peaceful death” prevent many patients with cancer from the “dignified end” that they deserve, says Sunita Puri, MD, a palliative care physician and author. She and Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles, discuss frustrations and concerns about systemic failures in cancer care wh...

When it comes to the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), "within the last eight months or so, we have had some exciting new events," says  Daniel A. Ermann, MD , a hematologist-oncologist and assistant professor at the University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration  approved pirtobrutinib  for pre...