Project Oncology®

Guest: Daniela Molena, MD For patients with locally advanced gastroesophageal cancer, surgery remains a critical component of curative treatment—even in the era of chemoradiation and advanced imaging. Dr. Daniela Molena explores the challenges of assessing complete clinical response and the risks of non-operative management. Dr. Molena is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine...

Guest: William Hall, MD From tumor detection to biomarker development, artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping the landscape of gastrointestinal oncology. In this expert-led program, Dr. William Hall explains how AI is being applied to data to identify tumor features and treatment susceptibilities faster and more precisely than traditional methods. Dr. Hall is a Professor and Chair of Ra...

Guest: Seth Wander, MD, PhD Over the past decade, CDK4/6 inhibitors have transformed the treatment landscape for HR+ breast cancer, but resistance remains a key clinical challenge. Hear from Dr. Seth Wander as he explores the latest translational insights into resistance mechanisms, including genomic alterations affecting cell cycle and signal transduction pathways, and discusses evolving therapeu...

Host: Pavani Chalasani, MD, MPH Guest: Timothy Yap, MBBS, PhD, FRCP Early findings from the PETRA study suggest that combining saruparib with camizestrant may offer added clinical benefit in ER+/HER2– advanced breast cancer, particularly in patients with BRCA or PALB2 mutations. Tune in to hear from Dr. Pavani Chalasani and Dr. Timothy Yap as they discuss this encouraging new data on tolerability...

Host: Ryan Quigley Guest: Kathrin M. Bernt, MD Guest: Rushabh Mehta, BS Guest: Fatemeh Alikarami New data presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition reveals how chemotherapy and immunotherapy may drive the emergence of CD-19–negative, myeloid-like subclones in pediatric B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). Mr. Ryan Quigley sits down with Dr. Kathrin...

Guest: Victoria Coleman-Cowger, PhD Gene therapy offers transformative potential for individuals with sickle cell disease, but the psychosocial challenges that accompany such a major decision are often underestimated. Hear from Dr. Victoria Coleman-Cowger as she highlights recommendations for supporting emotional wellbeing during and after gene therapy and explains the importance of recognizing bo...

Guest: Brian Slomovitz, MD Endometrial cancer is closely tied to modifiable risk factors such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and insulin resistance—all components of a chronic inflammatory state that heightens cancer susceptibility. Dr. Brian Slomovitz discusses how lifestyle interventions and emerging therapies may reduce cancer recurrence. He’s the Director of Gynecologic Oncology and Co-Ch...

Guest: Brian Slomovitz, MD Endometrial cancer is rising in incidence, with mortality now surpassing that of ovarian cancer. Hear from Dr. Brian Slomovitz as he explores evolving molecular classifications, treatment challenges, and the urgent need to address racial disparities in care. Dr. Slomovitz is the Director of Gynecologic Oncology and Co-Chair of the Cancer Research Committee at Mount Sinai...

Host: Ryan Quigley How are patients with breast cancer brain metastases faring in the modern treatment era? In this AudioAbstract, Ryan Quigley shares findings from a 25-year review of 507 patients at UCSF, providing new insights into how survival outcomes have shifted across subtypes and which treatments are driving real-world progress. This research was also presented at the 2025 San Antonio Bre...

Host: Ryan Quigley Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains one of the hardest subtypes to treat, with limited options and high relapse rates—so identifying new therapeutic targets is critical. In this AudioAbstract, Ryan Quigley spotlights research presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium that implicates ribosome biogenesis as a key vulnerability. Tune in to learn how this approac...

Guest: Ryan Quigley At the 2025 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, researchers presented key findings from the pivotal phase three CLL17 trial, which was the first randomized study to directly compare continuous BTK inhibition with fixed-duration venetoclax-based therapy in previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Hear from Ryan Quigley as he shares new d...

As medicine shifts toward race-neutral lung function interpretation, new challenges emerge in ensuring equitable access to care. Dr. Ajay Sheshadri explores how race-neutral spirometry may impact patient selection for lung resection surgery and hematopoietic cell transplantation. Dr. Sheshadri is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson...

Race-based spirometry adjustments have long influenced pulmonary risk assessments, often underestimating disease severity in Black patients. Hear from Dr. Ajay Sheshadri as he examines the historical misuse of race in lung function testing, explores race-neutral modeling in surgical risk prediction, and highlights the need for data-driven, continuous risk assessment tools in caring for patients wi...

A 2025 study in Chest evaluated PREDICT, a precision medicine program at a large academic-community practice, designed to streamline testing and expand access to personalized treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Hear from ReachMD's Ryan Quigley as he shares the key impacts of this approach and implications for care delivery.

Guest: Alexis Leonard With two FDA-approved gene therapies, including the first CRISPR-based treatment, curative strategies for sickle cell disease are continuing to expand the treatment landscape. However, challenges remain in optimizing safety and accessibility, particularly for patients unable to tolerate current myeloablative conditioning. Learn about advancements in ex vivo editing, such as i...

Guest: David Jacobsohn Gene therapy is redefining the treatment landscape for sickle cell disease, with approaches like gene addition, gene editing, and fetal hemoglobin induction showing promise in reducing or even eliminating symptoms. However, while these therapies offer some advantages over allogeneic stem cell transplant, they also come with significant challenges. In a conversation with Ryan...

Guest: Alexis Leonard CRISPR technology, while relatively new, has shown potential in treating patients with sickle cell disease by increasing fetal hemoglobin. Though this gene therapy comes with safety considerations, refinements and advancements in CRISPR technology can offer new management options for sickle cell disease patients. Learn about the history of CRISPR as a sickle cell disease trea...

Guest: Alexis Leonard Sickle cell disease management traditionally involves two primary treatment approaches: disease-modifying therapies and curative strategies. While disease-modifying therapies can help reduce complications associated with the disease, they do not correct or fix them, which is why curative strategies are appealing to some patients and physicians. Join Dr. Alexis Leonard as she...

Host: Ashley Baker, MSN, PMHNP Guest: Alyssa Schlenz Guest: Shannon Phillps Families of children with sickle cell disease have noted both an abundance of support and significant obstacles when accessing care, ranging from knowledgeable providers and flexible scheduling to transportation concerns and insurance holdups. Joining Ashley Baker to discuss their recent research on these key facilitators...

Host: Hallie Blevins, PhD. Early resistance to hydroxyurea in patients with polycythemia vera (PV) is associated with higher risks of thromboembolic complications, disease progression, and mortality. The PV-AIM study applied machine learning to real-world data and identified simple lab-based predictors that stratify patients by risk, and these findings were later validated in the HU-F-AIM trial. H...

Host: Ryan Quigley In relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma, disease control is only part of the equation. In this AudioAbstract, ReachMD's Ryan Quigley explores patient-reported outcomes from the ELM-2 trial, revealing that odronextamab not only delivers high response rates but also helps preserve—and in some cases, improve—quality of life.

Host: Marlene Mimi Maeusli, PhD. A recent Danish population-based study evaluating real-world outcomes of ibrutinib in relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) found lower efficacy and tolerability compared to clinical trials, particularly among older patients and those with high-risk disease features. In this AudioAbstract, ReachMD's Dr. Mimi Maeusli explains how this evidence is reshapi...

Guest: Paola Marignani, PhD, EMBA While smoking remains a key risk factor for lung cancer, up to 25 percent of cases occur in people who have never smoked, leaving significant gaps in our understanding of causation and diagnostics. Dr. Paola Marignani explores emerging discoveries in gene variants unique to never-smokers, uncovered through single-cell RNA sequencing and machine learning. Dr. Marig...

Host: Ryan Quigley The World Health Organization's new Integrated Lung Health Resolution is the first to explicitly include lung cancer within a global lung health framework. In this AudioAbstract, ReachMD's Ryan Quigley explains what this means for screening, early diagnosis, care pathways, and equitable access to treatment.

Guest: John Cho, MD, PhD, FRCPC While early findings using the SMART protocol for mesothelioma have been encouraging, replication has proven challenging due to steep surgical learning curves, complexities in planning, and skepticism. Dr. John Cho explores why adoption has been limited and what's next for this approach, which he discussed at the 2025 World Conference on Lung Cancer. Dr. Cho is a ra...