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 when it comes to death and dying. “We need to have this national dialogue around this topic,”...

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 previously treated CLL in December 2023 and approved the CAR-T therapy lisocabtagene ciloleucel for...

Oncologists are struggling with the rising cancer mortality rate among millennial patients. "I think treating people our own age is definitely a trigger for a lot of people," said Sunita Puri, MD, a palliative-care physician and author. She spoke with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles, about her recent article in The Atlantic, "The Silence Doctors Are Keeping About Millennial Deaths." Dr. Puri...

Thoracic oncology was a major focus of the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, says Sandip P. Patel, MD, a medical oncologist and professor of medicine at the University of California San Diego. Practice-changing data were presented in both non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC), Dr. Patel told Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. 

The biggest data at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in kidney cancer focused on biomarkers, says Brian I. Rini, MD, chief of clinical trials and the Ingram Professor of Cancer Research at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville. He discussed data from KEYNOTE-426 and several other key trials with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. 

Enfortumab vedotin plus pembrolizumab (EV/pembro) has “become the elephant in the room” when it comes to bladder cancer care, says Jonathan E. Rosenberg, MD, chief of genitourinary oncology service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. At the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, he discussed recent key advances in urothelial carcinoma treatment with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai...

Immunotherapy in “Hardest Stage” of NSCLC: Putting Recent Advances Into Practice Our host, Robert A. Figlin, MD, FACP, welcomes Melissa L. Johnson, MD, as a guest  

From ASCO 2024.   When it comes to the use of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) in breast cancer care, "we're past the inflection point," says Hope S. Rugo, MD, a breast cancer oncologist and professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of California San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

From ASCO 2024 The time it takes for a novel cancer therapy to go from investigational new drug application to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval is typically longer than a decade. “There has to be a better way,” says Bob T. Li, MD, PhD, MPH, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and associate professor of medicine at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. 

From ASCO 2024, Dr. Robert Figlin speaks with Dr. Samer Al Hadadi from University of Arkansas. "Very Important" Myeloma Data: ASCO Highlights, Smoldering Challenges, and More.

From ASCO 2024, Dr. Robert Figlin talks with Dr. Lauren Averett Byers from MD Anderson Cancer Center. Durvalumab's Benefit in SCLC "Beyond What We Might Have Expected"

From ASCO 2024 New Standard of Care in Melanoma? Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy Offers "Fantastic" Potential, Expert Says. Dr. Robert Figlin speaks with Dr. Christian Blank from Leiden University

From ASCO 2024, Dr. Robert Figlin welcomes Dr. Aditya Bardia from UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Should All Breast Cancer Patients Get T-DXd? "Results of DESTINY-Breast06 Do Suggest That"

Especially in rural areas, the growing oncologist shortage has “gotten to crisis level,” says Harsha Vyas, MD, president and founding partner of Cancer Center of Middle Georgia in Dublin. “We just don’t have enough supply of medical oncologists/hematologists,” he tells Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. Dr. Vyas puts forth his ideas for potential solutions, ranging from medical school debt repayment...

The development of noncovalent Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors and other advances in chronic lymphocytic leukemia treatment signify that the “future is really exciting,” says Jennifer A. Woyach, MD, professor in the Division of Hematology at The Ohio State University in Columbus. Dr. Woyach speaks with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles, about the potential of moving these new drugs into the...

Given recent data, how should oncologists choose a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) in patients with EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and when should chemotherapy be introduced? “It’s better to have choices than not,” explains Paul Bunn, MD, the Dudley Chair in Cancer Research at the University of Colorado in Aurora. Dr. Bunn discusses how recent trials influence treatment decisions in NSCLC with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at...

The treatment of biochemical recurrence in prostate cancer “is set for rapid development over the next few years,” says Edwin M. Posadas, MD, medical director of the Center for Uro-Oncology Research Excellence at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Data from the recent EMBARK trial have changed practice for the treatment of men with high-risk features. Dr. Posadas discusses these findings and related advances with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent accelerated approval of a tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy in metastatic melanoma “is a real milestone,” after the approach was “pending for decades,” explains Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD, deputy director at the NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center. Dr. Weber, who was part of the team to first work with the treatment in the late 1980s, discusses the breakthrough with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in...

Recent advances in metastatic urothelial carcinoma have meant that optimistic outcomes are “not as much of a fairytale,” says Robert Dreicer, MD, deputy director of the UVA Cancer Center and professor of medicine and urology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville. From the recent approval of enfortumab vedotin plus pembrolizumab to other key findings recently presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, Dr. Dreicer...

Recent approvals by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and findings from pivotal clinical trials have changed care for patients with breast cancer that has progressed after frontline hormone therapy. Ruth M. O’Regan, MD, chair of medicine and Charles H. Dewey Professor at the University of Rochester in New York, highlights which recent developments regarding second- and third-line treatments are most essential. She and Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in...

Recent data on the use of immunotherapy and targeted treatments in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have introduced a myriad of questions. These include controversial topics and difficult decisions, like when to incorporate CTLA-4 inhibition and what patients can expect from immuno-oncology monotherapy in the metastatic setting. Edward B. Garon, MD, MS, professor in the department of medicine in hematology/oncology and director of the thoracic oncology program at the...

Belzutifan was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in previously treated adults with advanced renal cell carcinoma. How should this drug best be incorporated into practice? Eric Jonasch, MD, professor in the Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles, discuss how...

CDK4/6 inhibitors “have really been a game changer” in metastatic breast cancer, according to Komal Jhaveri, MD, clinical director for early drug development and section head for endocrine therapy research at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City. However, optimal treatment strategies have been complicated by a lack of head-to-head trials. Dr. Jhaveri speaks with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles,...

From compelling data presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium to the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of capivasertib, 2023 saw numerous key advances in breast cancer care. Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, director of the breast cancer research program at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston, and Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in hematology-oncology at Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los...