In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Leonard Farber, MD, a board-certified Radiation Oncologist, and healthcare executive. Farber is recognized for his ability to identify ground-breaking technologies and position them for success in clinical practice. He recently joined EHMET Health, an emerging medical device company with a state-of-the-art device for providing radiation as a treatment for breast cancer, Farber joined the company as the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Clinical Research. Farber also works with a large number of pioneering startups focusing on health and medicine, including establishments such as PreludeDx.

In today’s program, Hofland and Farber talk about Ductal Carcinoma in Situ or DCIS and DCISionRT, the only risk assessment test for patients with this disease, that predicts radiation therapy benefit.

Ductal Carcinoma in Situ
In the US, over 60,000 women are newly diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ or DCIS each year, accounting for an estimated 18 – 25% of the total number of newly diagnosed breast tumors. Fortunately, DCIS is a highly curable disease with a 10-year cancer-specific survival of about 97%. Because DCIS is a "forerunner" of invasive breast cancer – and is often referred to as a pre-cancer - early diagnosis and treatment are crucial for reducing the risk of developing invasive breast cancer.

Current treatment strategies include breast-conserving surgery with radiotherapy, breast-conserving surgery alone, mastectomy or observation.

A recent study demonstrated that 53% of DCIS patients' risk scores were under classified and 34% were overclassified using traditional methods, resulting in overtreatment or undertreatment.

About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

Advancing the Diagnosis and Treatment of Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS)

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Yoav Kimchy, Ph.D.

Kimchy has more than 20 years of experience in the development and management of innovative medical device companies. He founded Check-Cap in 2005 and served as the company's Chief Technology Officer.

Check-Cap is a clinical-stage medical diagnostics company aiming to redefine colorectal cancer screening/ through the introduction of C-Scan®, the first patient-friendly preparation-free screening test to detect polyps before they may transform into colorectal cancer. The new screening technology is being designed to enable early intervention and cancer prevention.

The capsule-based screening technology is expected to significantly increase screening adherence worldwide, and help millions of people to stay healthy through preventive colorectal cancer screening.

The technology is based on an ultra-low-dose X-ray capsule, an integrated positioning, control, and recording system, as well as proprietary software to generate a 3D map of the inner lining of the colon as it travels naturally along the gastrointestinal tract.

One of the benefits of the technology is that it is non-invasive and requires no sedation. And unlike other capsule technologies, it requires no preparation, allowing the patients to continue their daily routine without interruption.

An important caveat is that the technology is not intended to replace a colonoscopy. In the program, Kimchy argues that at all times a positive result should be followed by colonoscopy.

About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

A New Way to Prevent Colon Cancer: A Conversation with Check-Cap's Yoav Kimchy, Ph.D.

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D talks with Tony Polverino, Ph.D. In September 2918 Polverino joined Zymeworks, a clinical-stage, biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation multifunctional biotherapeutics. He currently serves as the company's Executive Vice President of Early Development and Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to joining Zymeworks, from 2015 until 2018, Polverino was at Kite Pharma, which was acquired by Gilead Sciences in 2017.

Zymeworks’ lead clinical candidate, zanidatamab (ZW25), is a novel Azymetric™ bispecific antibody that has been granted Breakthrough Therapy designation by the FDA and is currently enrolling in a pivotal clinical trial for refractory HER2-amplified biliary tract cancer (HORIZON-BTC-01)[1][2][3[[4] as well as several Phase 2 clinical trials for HER2-expressing gastroesophageal and breast cancers. Zymeworks’ second clinical candidate, ZW49, is a novel bispecific HER2-targeting antibody-drug conjugate currently in Phase 1 clinical development and combines the unique design and antibody framework of zanidatamab with Zymeworks’ proprietary ZymeLink™ linker and cytotoxin. Zymeworks is also advancing a deep preclinical pipeline in oncology (including immuno-oncology agents) and other therapeutic areas.

In our program today Hofland asks Polverino about his work in oncology, his work before joining Zymeworks, and the work he and his co-workers are doing at Zymeworks.

About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

Reference
[1] A Study of ZW25 (Zanidatamab) in Subjects With Advanced or Metastatic HER2-Amplified Biliary Tract Cancers - NCT04466891
[2] A Study of ZW25 (Zanidatamab) With Palbociclib Plus Fulvestrant in Patients With HER2+/HR+ Advanced Breast Cancer - NCT04224272
[3] A Safety and Efficacy Study of ZW25 (Zanidatamab) Plus Combination Chemotherapy in HER2-expressing Gastrointestinal Cancers, Including Gastroesophageal Adenocarcinoma, Biliary Tract Cancer, and Colorectal Cancer - NCT03929666
[4] A Dose-Finding Study of ZW49 in Patients With HER2-Positive Cancers - NCT03821233

Shaping the Possibilities for Patients Everywhere: A Conversation with Zymeworks' Tony Polverino

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D., talks with Mondher Mahjoubi, MD, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Board of Innate Pharma, a clinical-stage oncology-focused biotech company dedicated to improving treatment and clinical outcomes for patients through therapeutic antibodies that harness the immune system to fight cancer.

Innate Pharma’s broad pipeline of antibodies includes several potentially first-in-class clinical and preclinical candidates in cancers with high unmet medical needs. The company, based in the South of France, has been a pioneer in the understanding of the biology of natural killer (NK-) cell, and has expanded its expertise in the tumor microenvironment and tumor-antigens, as well as antibody engineering. This innovative approach has resulted in a diversified portfolio and major alliances with leaders in the biopharmaceutical industry including Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, and a multi-products collaboration with AstraZeneca.

About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

Harnessing the Immune System to Fight Cancer: An Interview with Innate Pharma's Mondher Mahjoubi

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, developed in collaboration with ADC Review | Journal of Antibody-drug Conjugates (at www.ADCReview.com), Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with William (Bill) Newell, JD, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Sutro Biopharma (www.sutrobio.com)

Sutro is a clinical-stage drug discovery, development, and manufacturing company using precise protein engineering and rational design to advance the development of the next-generation oncology therapeutics for unmet medical needs and areas where the current standard of care is suboptimal.

To date, Sutro’s technology platform has led to the development of cytokine-based immuno-oncology therapies, antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs, vaccines, and bispecific antibodies.

In addition to Sutro’s own pipeline of novel drugs, including STRO-001, a CD74-targeting ADC currently being investigated in a Phase 1 clinical trial of patients with advanced B-cell malignancies, such as multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and STRO-002, a folate receptor alpha (FolRα)-targeting ADC, currently being investigated in a Phase 1 clinical trial of patients with ovarian and endometrial cancers, the company is also collaborating with select pharmaceutical and biotech companies to discover and develop novel, next-generation therapeutics.

Antibody-drug conjugates like STRO-001 and STRO-002, are highly targeted biopharmaceutical drugs that combine monoclonal antibodies specific to surface antigens present on particular tumor cells with highly potent anti-cancer agents linked via a chemical linker.

Today there are 10 approved ADC on the market – and many more in development. And as a result, ADCs have become a powerful class of therapeutic agents in oncology and hematology.

About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

Antibody-drug Conjugates: Coming of Age

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Nader Sanai, MD.

Dr. Sanai is the director of the Ivy Brain Tumor Center and the director of neurosurgical oncology at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. In this episode of the program Hofland asked Sanai about Phase 0 studies – also known as micro-dosing studies – and why they are so important in the development of promising new drugs. They also talk about a potential, non-invasive treatment option for glioblastoma as well as and data he presented during the annual meeting of the European Society for Medical Oncology the meeting of the European Association for Neuro-Oncology.

About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief 

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

Advancements in the Treatment of Glioblastoma: "More Drug is Not Always Better"

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Diane Simeone, MD, the Committee Chair and Principal Investigator and Executive Committee Chair of the PRECEDE Consortium. Simeone is also the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Professor of Surgery, Department of Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Professor, Department of Pathology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Director, Pancreatic Cancer Center and Associate Director, Translational Research, Perlmutter Cancer Center. 

Hofland also talks with Tom Schoenherr, the Chief Executive Officer of Ambry Genetics, one of the participating industry partners of the PRECEDE program.

In today’s episode Simeone, Schoenherr, and Hofland talk about Pancreatic Cancer and a new, international collaborative initiative called The Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection or PRECEDE Consortium, which includes more than 35 leading academic medical centers across the globe. The PRECEDE Consortium wants to transform the early detection and prevention of pancreatic cancer, with the aim of increasing the 5-year survival rate from 10 percent today to 50 percent within the next 10 years 

In addition to academic centers, the PRECEDE Consortium includes industry partners who bring their expertise and resources in genetic testing, pathology, and imaging as well as in information technology to support the program; to determine who is at an elevated risk for developing pancreatic cancer, define that risk, and invite those with a higher risk to participate in a state-of-the-art clinical screening program. 

The PRECEDE Consortium analyzes and standardizes data curated through an integrated diagnostics platform called LATTICE™, a platform that runs on Amazon Web Services or AWS. LATTICE uses Amazon HealthLake, a HIPAA-eligible service that helps organizations store, transform, query, and analyze health data, and will help researchers and clinicians gain new genomic insights for detecting and preventing pancreatic cancer.

About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program.

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

PRECEDE: Transforming the Early Detection and Prevention of Pancreatic Cancer

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Eyal Talor, Ph.D., a clinical immunologist with over 25 years of hands-on management experience in clinical research and drug development. Talor joined CEL-SCI in October 1993 and was promoted to Chief Scientific Officer in October 2009. CEL-SCI is developing a new immunotherapeutic drug for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune diseases, and infectious diseases. In today’s program, Hofland and Talor are talking about one of these agents, an investigational drug called leukocyte interleukin, or Multikine®

Multikine® is currently in late-stage development and is being investigated as a possible new adjuvant therapy for patients diagnosed with head-and-neck cancer and cervical dysplasia.

The published results of clinical studies, including a recently concluded Phase 3 study, are very promising in patients diagnosed with head-and-neck cancer. Patients treated with this new anticancer agent in combination with standard of care (SOC) versus standard of care alone had an overall survival benefit of 14.1% at five years. These results exceeded the predefined 10% overall survival benefit set out for the study population as a whole. 

About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program.

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

A Promising Treatment Option for Patients Diagnosed with Head-and-neck Cancer

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland Ph.D. talks with Ellen J. Kim, MD. Kim is the Medical Director of the Dermatology Clinic at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine and Professor of Dermatology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.  She is also the Lead Principal Investigator for the Phase 3 FLASH (Fluorescent Light Activated Synthetic Hypericin) study in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL).  This study is the largest multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, skin-directed therapy study in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, to date, enrolling a total of 169 patients.

In our program today Hofland and Kim talk about the success of HyBryte™ (previously known as (SGX301); hypericin ointment 0.25%)  in the broad cutaneous T-cell lymphoma patient population.

HyBryte™, being developed by Soligenix, a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products to treat rare diseases where there is an unmet medical need, is a novel, first-in-class, photodynamic therapy utilizing safe, visible light for activation.  

The active ingredient in HyBryte™ is synthetic hypericin, a potent photosensitizer that is topically applied to skin lesions that is taken up by the malignant T-cells, and then activated by visible light 16 to 24 hours later.  The use of visible light in the red-yellow spectrum has the advantage of penetrating more deeply into the skin (much more so than ultraviolet light) and therefore potentially treating deeper skin disease and thicker plaques and lesions. This treatment approach avoids the risk of secondary malignancies (including melanoma) inherent with the frequently employed DNA-damaging drugs and other types of phototherapy that are dependent on ultraviolet exposure.  

Combined with photoactivation, hypericin has demonstrated significant anti-proliferative effects on activated normal human lymphoid cells and inhibited the growth of malignant T-cells isolated from CTCL patients.  In a published Phase 2 clinical study in CTCL, patients experienced a statistically significant (p=0.04) improvement with topical hypericin treatment whereas the placebo was ineffective.  

HyBryte™ has received orphan drug and fast track designations from the FDA, as well as an orphan designation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program.

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

Reference
FLASH [Fluorescent Light Activated Synthetic Hypericin] Clinical Study: Topical SGX301 (Synthetic Hypericin) for the Treatment of Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma (Mycosis Fungoides) - NCT02448381

A Novel, First-in-class, Photodynamic Therapy for Patients with CTCL

Cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the world, and numbers are on the rise. To respond to the growing need for therapeutic solutions, much research is needed.  In this episode of The Onco’Zine BriefPeter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Susan Pandya, MD.

Pandya is Vice President Clinical Development and Global Head of Cancer Metabolism at Servier Pharmaceuticals. She is also a board-certified Hematologist-Oncologist and a master clinician with a passion for innovation in cancer treatment. In her current role as Vice President of Clinical Development at Servier Pharmaceuticals Pandya is overseeing hematology and oncology clinical development programs. She is involved in developing novel therapeutics in rare oncology indications and is leading teams with the design, planning, and execution of Phase 1 and Phase 3 global pivotal studies. 

Hofland and Pandya talk about how Servier Pharmaceuticals has made oncology one of the company's foremost priorities and endeavors to become a major player in treatments for cancers that are difficult to treat and for which therapeutic needs are generally not yet met, such as gastrointestinal, hematologic, pancreatic and pediatric cancers.

About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program.

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

Working Tirelessly to Improve the Lives of Cancer Patients

In the past 30 years, the survival rate for breast cancer has improved by about 40%, one of the highest survival rates of any cancer. The increase in survival is, in part, due to advances in screening technology as well as improvement in cancer treatment and a better understanding of the biology of cancer. All of which have had an impact on survival.

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with talking with Stephen Malamud, MD, who is the regional director of medical oncology at Nuvance Health, a health network with hospitals, medical practices, and care centers located throughout New York’s Hudson Valley and Western Connecticut. 

Hofland and Malamud talk about some of the results of studies presented during the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held December 7 – 10, 2021 in San Antonio, Texas, and virtually via streaming media. For this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, the producers and editors selected just a few key presentations.  In each case, Hofland and Malamud briefly discuss the study as well as how the results may improve the health-related Quality of Life (hrQoL) of patients. They also try to answer if the study results may change the way medicine is practiced.

SABCS 2021: Key Findings in Breast Cancer Research

In this interview Paul Schmidt, co-host of The Onco'Zine Brief, asked Laurie H. Sehn, MD, Clinical Professor at the British Columbia Cancer Centre for Lymphoid Cancer in the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, about new treatment options for patients diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, presented at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

ASCO 2021: Promising Data for a New Treatment Option of non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Research out earlier this year confirms what many doctors had feared: Cancer
screenings dropped significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The study, published in the February 2022 edition of Journal of the National
Comprehensive Cancer Network, examined data from the Ontario Cancer Registry in
Canada. The results showed that in March 2020 the week-to-week rate of cancer diagnosis dropped by 34.3%. And this worries doctors, because over the last few decades, the
cancer survival rates have improved, in part because of earlier detection of disease. [1]

Doctors fear that this disruption to healthcare access may negatively impact early detection of cancers which may lead to serious problems later.

Another aspect doctors worry about is that delayed diagnoses and treatments means
that in some cases a patient’s diagnoses may not be brought to light until later stages – stage 3 and 4 – when cancer is more difficult to treat.

Based on the available data, some experts predict a spike in new cancer diagnosis
later this year and in 2023. The main reason, they believe, is pandemic-related, including
lockdowns and fears of the coronavirus – which cause COVID-19.

In addition to early diagnosis, the pandemic also stalled, delayed, or canceled clinical trials.
Based on some estimates, this impacted as many as 60% of all oncology clinical trials and biological therapies in the United States.

One big question remains, what are the real implications of stalling or canceling these
clinical trials? 

In this episode of The Onco'Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph,D. talk with Marie E. Lamont, the general manager and chief executive officer of Inteliquet, a company that strives
to match patients to clinical trials, accurately and promptly – or, in other words, the company ensures that physicians and their patients have access to the latest and best clinical trials, using decision, making technology developed by the company.

About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program.

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

Reference
[1] Eskander A, Li Q, Yu J, Hallet J, Coburn NG, Dare A, Chan KKW, Singh S, Parmar A, Earle CC, Lapointe-Shaw L, Krzyzanowska MK, Hanna TP, Finelli A, Louie AV, Look Hong N, Irish JC, Witterick IJ, Mahar A, Noel CW, Urbach DR, McIsaac DI, Enepekides D, Sutradhar R. Incident Cancer Detection During the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2022 Feb 1:1-9. doi: 10.6004/jnccn.2021.7114. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35104788.

Marie E. Lamont: Lessons Learned during the COVID-19 Pandemic helps in Transforming Patient Access to Clinical Trials

After checking your cholesterol, hemoglobin A1C, and glucose level during your annual wellness check, your primary care phycisian says: 'It looks like we haven't done your genome. Why don't we do that?' How would you respond? If you have a genetic mutation that increases your risk for a treatable medical condition, would you want to know? For many people the answer is yes. But typically, such information has not been a part of routine primary care.

In this episode Peter Hofland PhD talks with Noelle Carbognin and Elizabeth Chao, MD, FACMG, a Medical Geneticist at UC Irvine about about Lynch Syndrome, a type of inherited cancer syndrome associated with a genetic predisposition to different cancer types, including Colorectal cancer and about various aspects of genetic testing, new technologies, including next generation sequencing technology, and the potential future possibilities and benefits of genetic testing in preventing disease.[1][2]

About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program.

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

Reference
[1] Espenschied CR, LaDuca H, Li S, McFarland R, Gau CL, Hampel H. Multigene Panel Testing Provides a New Perspective on Lynch Syndrome. J Clin Oncol. 2017 Aug 1;35(22):2568-2575. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2016.71.9260. Epub 2017 May 17. PMID: 28514183; PMCID: PMC7186580.
[2] Karam R, Conner B, LaDuca H, McGoldrick K, Krempely K, Richardson ME, Zimmermann H, Gutierrez S, Reineke P, Hoang L, Allen K, Yussuf A, Farber-Katz S, Rana HQ, Culver S, Lee J, Nashed S, Toppmeyer D, Collins D, Haynes G, Pesaran T, Dolinsky JS, Tippin Davis B, Elliott A, Chao E. Assessment of Diagnostic Outcomes of RNA Genetic Testing for Hereditary Cancer. JAMA Netw Open. 2019 Oct 2;2(10):e1913900. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.13900. PMID: 31642931; PMCID: PMC6820040.

Lynch Syndrome and Genetic Testing

Your annual doctors – or wellness visit may not be enough to prevent diseases like cancer.  Daily health and lifestyle choices are the key to cancer prevention --but what are these choices?  What is important?

In "It’s Time you Knew’ - The Power of Your Choices to Prevent Women's Cancer", board certified gynecological oncologist Dr Valene Wright offers simple and straightforward tools to help women listen to their own body – and in doing so take control of their own health.  

In this episode Peter Hofland PhD talks with board certified gynecological oncologist and surgeon Valene Wright, MD.  In her book, Wright helps women - but also men - to make  critical choices help prevent cancer. 

To oder Dr Wright's book, click on the link: https://amzn.to/3P5wIxl

About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program.

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

Valena Weight, MD - It's Time You Knew, The Power of Your Choices to Prevent Women's Cancer

Glioblastoma is an aggressive type of cancer that can occur in the brain or spinal cord. And while the disease can occur at any age, it tends to occur more often in older people.

According to the American Cancer Society, United States, doctors diagnose between 12,000 and 14,000 patients with glioblastoma in the U.S. each year. There is currently no cure for glioblastoma. The median length of survival after a diagnosis is 15-
18 months, while the disease’s five-year survival rate is around 10%.

And while all glioblastomas recur, initial treatments may keep the tumor controlled
for months or even years.

To improve the current standard of care, ongoing research and development is required.
Earlier this year, researchers at Modifi Biosciences published a critical study in thejournal
Science, validating a new oncology platform based on new classes of molecules
that exploit tumor-associated DNA repair defects through direct cancer cell DNA modification.

This approach redefines the rules on how to selectively kill cancer cells via direct DNA
modification

The technology bypasses conventional approaches that indirectly target proteins in cancer cells and demonstrates robust anti-tumor activity in glioma, one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer, while sparing normal tissue.

In the publication in Science, a new class of molecules were found to be very selective against cancer cells that lack expression of a key DNA repair protein.

And approximately half of all glioblastomas and up to 80% of gliomas lack this particular protein. Furthermore. emerging research indicates that this deficiency is seen in many
other tumor types, suggesting broad applicability for this strategy in treating cancer.

Based on this research, scientists at Modifi Bio are creating a new class of molecules, based on research conducted at Yale.

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks  with Ranjit S. Bindra, MD, Ph.D., a physician-scientist at Yale School of Medicine and the co-founder of Modify Bio.


Reference
[1] Lin K, Gueble SE, Sundaram RK, Huseman ED, Bindra RS, Herzon SB. Mechanism-based design of agents that selectively target drug-resistant glioma. Science. 2022 Jul 29;377(6605):502-511. doi: 10.1126/science.abn7570. Epub 2022 Jul 28. PMID: 35901163.

Redefining the Rules of Cancer Treatment

The annual congress of the European Society for Medical oncology or ESMO, is one of the most influential oncology meetings for clinicians, researchers, patient advocates, and healthcare industry representatives from all over the world. This year the annual Congress was held September 9 - 13, 2022 in the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris, France.

In this episode of the Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D., talks with:

- Eric Vivier DVM, Ph.D, senior vice president and scientific officer of Innate Pharma about anti-cancer drugs designed to harness the power of Natural Killer (NK-) Cells. During the ESMO Congress, the company presented a number of studies discussing the safety and efficacy of lacutamab in patients with relapsed/refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma that express KIR3DL2 and the design of multispecific antibodies (ANKET for antigen-specific activation of NK cells).

- Daniel Teper, PharmD, MBA, co-founder, chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of Cytovia Therapeutics, a company developing Precision NK Therapeutics which may revolutionize cancer treatment. During the annual ESMO Congress, the company presented new preclinical data for its GPC3 Flex-NK™ cell engager antibody in combination with natural killer cells.

- Neil H. Bander, MD, Director of Urological Oncology Research at Weill Cornell Medicine and Co-founder of Convergent Therapeutics about prostate cancer. The company is developing a therapeutic platform that is capable of targeting validated and novel cancer antigens, including the first antibodies to specifically target prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA).

About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program.

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

Clinical trials
- Study of Lacutamab in Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma - NCT04984837
- Safety and Efficacy of Lacutamab in Patients With Relapse Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma That Express KIR3DL2 - NCT05321147
- IPH4102 Alone or in Combination With Chemotherapy in Patients With Advanced T Cell Lymphoma (TELLOMAK) - NCT03902184

ESMO 2022: Advances in the Treatment of Cancer

Despite availability of endocrine therapies for advanced or metastatic breast cancer, there remains a critical unmet need for more effective and convenient treatment options that improve both the patient experience and health outcomes.

In today’s episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Sean P. Bohen, MD, Ph.D., the president and Chief Executive Officer of Olema Therapeutics. 

Olema Terapeutics  is developing new treatment options designed to improve outcomes for women with metastatic breast cancer. The company’s lead investigational drug is OP-1250.
This drug is a is a novel agent with combined activity as both an advanced complete estrogen receptor antagonist, and a selective estrogen receptor degrader. This approach is expected to drive deeper, more durable responses than currently available therapies.

OP-1250 is currently in development as a treatment for estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (ER+/HER2- MBC), in both monotherapy and combination settings.

About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program.

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

Clinical trials
- Phase 1b Combo w/ Ribociclib and Alpelisib | NCT05508906
- A Phase 1 Study of Oral OP-1250 in Combination With Palbociclib in HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer Patients - NCT05266105
-A Dose Escalation/Expansion Study of Oral OP-1250 in Subjects With Advanced and/or Metastatic HR+, HER2- Breast Cancer - NCT04505826

A Novel Approach to Advancing Breast Cancer Therapy

In this edition of The Onco'Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D, talks with Susanna F. Greer, Ph.D. the Chief Scientific Officer of the V Foundation. In her role, Dr. Greer is a visionary ambassador of the V Foundation, who works with the foundation’s Scientific Advisory Committee to steer funding to the most promising research opportunities.

An accomplished strategist, she develops and articulates priorities to enhance the V Foundation’s research portfolio, gifts, grants, and sponsorships that advance the V Foundation’s distinctive brand of cutting-edge and disruptive research.

The V Foundation was founded in 1993 by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano, legendary NC State University basketball coach and ESPN commentator.  The mission of the V Foundation is to funds game-changing research and all-star scientists to accelerate Victory Over Cancer® and save lives.   Today the V Foundation funds research for all cancer types, at leading cancer centers and research facilities nationwide. The organization awards 100% of direct donations to cancer research and programs. The Foundation’s endowment covers administrative expenses.

Susanna Greer, Ph.D: Advancing Funding for Cutting-edge Cancer Research

In this – the 100th episode of the Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Stephen Spellman, Vice President of Research and Senior Scientific Director of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research at the National Marrow Donor Program/Be the Match. 

In the program today Hofland and Spellman talk about bone-marrow transplants.

The likelihood of finding a fully matched unrelated donor for a patient who needs a bone marrow transplantvaries greatly depending on a patient’s ethnic background, and that ethnically diverse patients have – historically – been at a disadvantage. However, new research shows that when donor registry models are expanded to include mismatched unrelated donors, finding access for patients may greatly improve.[1]

Based on this understanding, Spellman believes that mismatched unrelated donors hold the key to erasing the gap in donor availability and deliver allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) to all patient populations.

For more information about the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, please http://www.CIBMTR.org. 

About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/jj9JqsS/MediaKit202122/, visit https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief at  or https://www.oncozine.com/advertisement-sponsorship-options/.

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal https://www.oncozine.com

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by http://www.javaoriginalcoffee.com – the home of artisan roasted coffee.

Reference
[1] Spellman S. Is finding a Donor for All in Need of Allogeneic HCT Possible? New Modeling Says Yes – Onco’Zine on September 5, 2022. [https://www.oncozine.com/is-finding-a-donor-for-all-in-need-of-allogeneic-hct-possible-new-modeling-says-yes/]

Mismatched Unrelated Donors: A Key to Erasing the Gap in Donor Availability in HCT

In this –this episode of the Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland is talking with Dr. Matthias Bucerius.

Dr. Bucerius is Vice President and General Manager at MilliporeSigma. He is responsible for Contract Development and Manufacturing Organsation (CDMO) business of the company, leading a fully integrated global team with Manufacturing Operations, Commercial, Marketing &amp; Strategy, Technology &amp; Innovation organizations.

The company is helping its clients in developing and manufacturing a variety of products, including antibody-drug conjugates. Antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs are targeted therapies that have opened new ways in targeting diseases like cancer and hematological malignancies.

What is unique about ADCs is that they leverage the specific targetability benefits offered by antibodies and combine that with the high potency of small-molecule drugs. This combination makes these agents uniquely targetable therapies. And unlike traditional chemotherapy, these ADCs target tumors by delivering the attached payload to destroy cancer cells while sparing the healthy or normal cells, thereby potentially reducing negative side effects for patients.

A Fantastic Voyage: From Magic Bullet to Antibody-drug Conjugate

In December 2022 the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology took place in the vibrant city of New Orleans and brought together tens of thousands of participants from across the world to present and discuss the results of studies that ranged from initial hypothesis to practice-changing results.

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks to two people about their research and the impact the outcomes from these studies may have.

First, Hofland talks with Thomas G. Martin, MD.

Martin is the Associate Director of the University of California San Francisco Myeloma Program and Director of the Unrelated Donor Transplantation program for adults at UCSF Medical Center.

Martin's  research interests include developing treatments for myeloma and leukemia as well as expanding the use of bone marrow transplants. He has a special interest in umbilical cord blood transplants, and he is involved in efforts to improve outcomes for patients who have transplants from unrelated donors.

In this episode Hofland and Martin talk about updated results from a Phase 1b expansion study evaluating subcutaneous administration of Isatuximab-irfc (https://www.sarclisahcp.com/; Sanofi) by an on-body delivery system in combination with pomalidomide (https://www.pomalysthcp.com/;  Bristol-Myers Squibb Company) and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. How does subcutaneous delivery vs. intravenous administration of Isatuximab benefits patients? Hofland and Martin also talk about the results of a Subgroup Analysis of the IKEMA trial. 

Then, With Monica Soni, MD, Director of Specialty Care for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, the second-largest municipal health system in the United States. She is also an assistant clinical professor within the UCLA Department of Medicine.  

Soni is commitment to improving quality, equity and affordability in health care. 

In this episode Hofland and Soni talks about the results of a study in which the investigators looked at the utilization of bone-modifying agents (BMA) in the treatment of multiple myeloma, particularly among Medicaid patients. 

What invesrigatriors found was shocking!

About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/jj9JqsS/MediaKit202122/, visit https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief at or https://www.oncozine.com/advertisement-sponsorship-options/.

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal https://www.oncozine.com/

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by http://www.javaoriginalcoffee.com/ – the home of artisan roasted coffee.

Clinical trial
Multinational Clinical Study Comparing Isatuximab, Carfilzomib And Dexamethasone To Carfilzomib And Dexamethasone In Relapse And/Or Refractory Multiple Myeloma Patients (IKEMA) -https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03275285

Highlights of ASH: Conversation about Multiple Myeloma with Thomas Martin and Monica Soni

 In this episode of The Onco'Zine Brief, Peter Hofland talks with two experts about their research and the impact the outcomes from these studies may have on the treatment of patients diagnosed with cancer.

First, Hofland talks with Christopher Heery, MD.

Dr Heery is a board-certified medical oncologist with primary expertise in the translational and clinical development of immunotherapies, including, but not limited to PD-L1 inhibitors, therapeutic cancer vaccines, immune suppressor modulator, adoptive NK cells, and other therapeutics.

As the chief medical officer at https://www.arcellx.com/, he is responsible for medical oversight, clinical strategy, medical affairs, and regulatory strategy for the company’s pipeline of novel – investigational drug.

In the second half of the program, Hofland talks with Srdan Verstovsek,  Dr Srdan Verstovsek, MD, PhD., a Medical Oncologist and Professor in the https://www.mdanderson.org/research/departments-labs-institutes/programs-centers/clinical-research-center-for-myeloproliferative-neoplasms/faculty-staff.html at https://www.mdanderson.org/, about some of the developments in the treatment of myeloproliferative neoplasm, which are types of blood cancer that begin with an abnormal mutation or change, in a stem cell in the bone marrow. These change leads to an overproduction of any combination of white cells, red blood cells and platelets – and results in a number of diseases, including: 

- Essential Thrombocythemia (ET) Is a rare blood disease in which the bone marrow produces too many platelets;
- Myelofibrosis, a rare disorder in which abnormal blood cells and fibers build up in the bone marrow;
- Polycythemia Vera (PV) – a disease in which too many red blood cells are made in the bone marrow and, in many cases, the numbers of white blood cells and platelets are also elevated.
About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/jj9JqsS/MediaKit202122/, visit https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief at or https://www.oncozine.com/advertisement-sponsorship-options/.

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal https://www.oncozine.com/

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by http://www.javaoriginalcoffee.com/ – the home of artisan roasted coffee.

Highlights from ASH: Conversations with Christopher Heery and Srdan Verstovsek

 In this episode of The Onco'Zine Brief, Peter Hofland talks with David M. Cognetti, MD, a Professor and Chair in the Department Head and Neck Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.

Hofland and Cognetti talk about head and neck cancer and a novel treatment approach called Photoimmunotherapy.

According to the American Cancer Society, Head and neck cancer accounts for about 4% of all cancers in the United States. In the United States in 2023, an estimated 67,000 people will be diagnosed with head and neck cancer and about 15,000 patients are expected to die of the disease.

Today, many cancers of the head and neck can be cured, especially if they are found early. And while eliminating the cancer is the primary goal of treatment, preserving the function of the nearby nerves, organs, and tissues is also very important.

Photoimmunotherapy is a recently developed hybrid cancer therapy to treat diseases by linking specific antibodies with photosensitizers to form photoimmunoconjugates.

About The Onco'Zine Brief
The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.

For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/jj9JqsS/MediaKit202122/, visit https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief at or https://www.oncozine.com/advertisement-sponsorship-options/.

For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal https://www.oncozine.com/

To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by http://www.javaoriginalcoffee.com/ – the home of artisan roasted coffee and https://roastmasterz.com.

Developing a New Standard of Care Cancer Treatment with Photoimmunotherapy

Patients living with invasive breast cancer with high levels of HER3 may face a significantly worse prognosis and decreased survival. This represents a large unmet medical need.

Overexpression of epidermal growth factor receptors, also known as EGFR, such as HER2 and HER3, can play a role in cancer cell development, including breast cancer. Statistics show that one in five breast cancers overexpress HER2, which is associated with a more aggressive disease. And about 50 to 70% of breast cancer tumors have detectable levels of HER3.

Depending on several factors, including the biomarker classification, breast cancer is typically treated with various combinations of surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy or targeted therapy. But many HER2-positive tumors progress to the point where no currently approved HER2-targeting treatments can continue to control the disease. Furthermore, there is no HER2-targeting therapies approved for HER2-weak positive tumors and no approved HER3-targeting therapy options.

Historically, HER3 has represented a challenge for drug development due to this receptor's lack of tyrosine kinase activity. However, recent reports of HER-3 targeted drugs have shown promising results in a number of preclinical settings.

A better understanding of HER3 regulation has contributed to improve the potential strategies to therapeutically target HER3 for cancer treatment.

In this interview during the 2017 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, or ASCO, which took place June 2nd to 5th in Chicago, Illinois, the team behind The Onco'Zine Brief sat down with Antoine Yver, MD., MSc, Executive Vice President and Global Head, Oncology Research and Development at Daichi Sankyo to talk about Daiichi Sankyo novel antibody-drug conjugate, DS-8201, and how this investigational drug has demonstrated a favorable safety profile and promising antitumor activity. The trial drug is currently being evaluated in an open-label two-part phase I dosing study in patients with advanced, unresectable or metastatic solid tumors that are refractory or intolerant to standard treatment, or for whom no standard treatment is available. 

DS-8201 is being development for HER2-positive advanced or metastatic breast cancer and gastric cancer, HER2-low-expressing breast cancer and other HER2-expressing solid cancers. The primary objective of the so-called dose escalation phase of the study was to assess the safety and tolerability of DS-8201 and determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD). 

To date a total of 134 patients have been treated in both the dose escalation  part of the study, which included 24 patients, and dose expansion part of the study, which included 110 patients.

Novel Therapies for HER2-positive Advanced Breast Cancer: An Interview with Dr. Antoine Yver

This week in The Onco’Zine Brief: Peter Hofland, Ph.D and Sonia Portillo talk with Otis Brawley, MD, MACP the Chief Medical and Scientific Officer of the American Cancer Society.

Hofland and Portillo ask Dr. Brawley about the past, present, and future of the fight against cancer, including screening, diagnostics and treatment with novel, targeted drugs, and the role of the American Cancer Society in helping to prevent cancer.

In today’s interview they further address some of the most pressing issues in oncology today, such as cancer health disparities and access to healthcare in lower income areas, as well implementing healthy lifestyle choices and reducing cancer risk factors, in order to make the biggest impact possible on reducing the number of cancer-related deaths.

Hofland and Portillo also ask Dr. Brawley how to go about meeting the challenges in healthcare and find a solution for cancer health disparities, as well as how to educate the public on how to prevent and reduce risks of cancer in our daily lives - including the need of a healthy diet and to stop smoking.

This interview, took place during the annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research held April 14-18th, 2018, in Chicago, Illinois.

Dr. Otis Brawley: Meeting the Challeng of Attacking Cancer from Every Angle

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks with Robert Goff about Medical Debt. Goff is one of the co-authors of a new book (“End Medical Debt: Curing America’s $1 Trillion Unpayable Healthcare Debt”) about the subject. He co-authored the book with Jerry Ashton and Craig Antico. 

In today's show Hofland and Goff talk about the problem of medical debt and how we got here. They talk about the impossibility of making insurance coverage broad and affordable when the cost of medical services is so prohibitive. 

And finally, they talk about how "RIP Medical Debt," the organization he represents, helps to empower donors to forgive the billions in oppressive medical debt - while, at the same time, helping people to benefit from medical debt relief.

Curing America's Unpayable Trillion Dollar Healthcare Debt

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland report from the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology – ASCO – which was held May 31st – June 4th, 2019.  

The American Society of Clinical Oncology is the world's leading professional organization for physicians and oncology professionals caring for people with cancer. During the annual meeting Peter Hofland spoke with:

•Anna Protopapas, the president and Chief Executive Office of Mersana Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotech company developing antibody-drug conjugates – a very specific kind of targeted anti-cancer drug, I also talk with 
•Eliran Malki, the Chief executive officer of BELONG.life, the world’s largest social network for cancer patients and caregivers designed to gain a better understanding of the cancer patient journey, with the goal of optimizing treatment and outcomes. 
•Dr. Rod Humerickhouse, asset strategy leader oncology at AbbVie, a highly focused research-driven biopharmaceutical company. As a major developer of anticancer drugs, AbbVie’s oncology scientists understand that outsmarting cancer takes a potent combination of courage, scientific expertise and strategy.

For more information, go to Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

ASCO 2019: The Courage and Expertese to Outsmarting Cancer

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, recorded during the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, ASCO, being held May 31 – June 4, 2019, Peter Hofland talks with Lee Schwartzberg MD, FACP, is a Medical Oncologist and Hematologist at West Cancer Center, Germantown, TN, and Dr. Shannon Westin, MD, MPH., FACOG, Associate Professor, Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine, Division of Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, a clinical investigator with a focus on developmental therapeutics and the use of biomarkers to predict response and recurrence in gynecologic malignancies.

Today in The OncoZine Brief Hofland an hus guests discuss two different aspects of the treatment of cancer: palliative and supportive care and the treatment of Gynecological cancers.

Hofland's interview with Dr. Lee Schwartzberg confirmed the importance of Palliative and supportive care in the treatment of patients with cancer.  In essence, Palliative care is focused on improving the quality of life for people living with a serious illness like cancer. People with cancer may receive palliative care at any time from the point of diagnosis, throughout treatment, and beyond. This kind of care helps patients and caregivers manage the symptoms of cancer and side effects of treatment. 

In the second part of the program, Hofland and Dr. Shannon Westinwe spoke about the progress made in the treatment of Gynecological cancers. 

While all women are at risk for gynecologic cancers, and this risk increases with age, when gynecologic cancers are found early, treatment is most effective. But, the diagnosis of gynecological cancers can be difficult. In America, every six minutes a woman is diagnosed with a gynecologic cancer. And, according to the American Cancer Society, this year alone an estimated be 92,000 women will be diagnosed with a gynecological cancer in the United States. Sadly, this will also result in a predicted 28,000 women killed by various forms of this group of cancers. 

Some of these gynecologic cancers have been called “silent killers” because women are often unaware of the signs and symptoms associated with these cancers and do not catch them until it is too late.

For more information, go to Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com

ASCO 2019:  Supportive Care and Developments in Gynecological Cancer

In this edition of The Onco’Zine Brief, recorded during the 42nd San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), held December 10 - 14, 2019 in San Antonio, Texas, Peter Hofland  talks with leading breast cancer experts, and patients about metastatic breast cancer and health related quality of life hrQoL issues including sexual intimacy, bone health and joint pain.  In this roundtable, panelists will also discuss liquid biomarkers for disease progression in the metastatic setting.

The expert panel includes;

- David Portman, MD,  founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sermonix Pharmaceuticals. Portman is a respected Key Opinion Leader (KOL) in the field, presented clinical data at national and international conferences, and published dozens of peer-reviewed papers in the field of menopause, VVA, SERMs and sexual health. Before founding Sermonix in 2014, Portman was founder and director of the Columbus Center for Women’s Health Research for 18 years where he conducted over 140 clinical trials in women’s health. He received his BA from Northwestern University and his MD and Obstetric and Gynecology residency from The Ohio State University College of Medicine where he is an adjunct instructor.

- Kelli Davis, metastatic breast cancer patient and director of social media at Metavivor. Davis, is an outspoken advocate on behalf of women living with the disease, was diagnosed with stage I breast cancer in 2009 and stage IIIc in 2013. She learned she had stage IV, or metastatic, breast cancer in late 2014.

- Stephanie L. Graff, MD, director of the Breast Cancer Program at Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute at HCA Midwest Health and associate director of the Breast Cancer Research Program at Sarah Cannon Research Institute. Graff, an award-winning writer and social media influencer, has broad experience as a principal investigator on numerous clinical trials. She received the Frist Humanitarian Award for her work improving the lives of people in her healthcare community, and serves on the boards of the American Cancer Society Kansas/Kansas City Area and The Research Foundation.

- Kelly Shanahan, MD, an Ob/Gyn, Metavivor board member, metastatic breast cancer patient and advocate. Shanahan is a wife, a mother, a daughter, a doctor, a woman living with metastatic breast cancer. She is also an outspoken advocate. Metastatic breast cancer stole her career and through the horrible diagnosis, she was introduced to amazing women and men who showed her that she, as a trained physician, could still help others and make a difference through advocacy.

Candid Conversations on Mets, Sex, and Side Effects: a Panel Discussion With Breast Cancer Oncologists, Women’s Health Experts and Patients

Peter Hofland, Ph.D. is the host of The Onco'Zine Brief, a radio show/podcast especially designed for the community of medical and healthcare professionals in oncology and hematology as well as cancer patients, their families, and caregivers. 

In the show, Hofland talks about the latest researcher, developments, and news in cancer and cancer treatment. They also interview physicians, world-renowned researchers, Key Opinion Leaders/Experts, and Key Stakeholders who share the common objective of preventing cancer, fostering a favorable environment for scientific research, and advocating for equal access to high-quality cancer treatment, and educate cancer patients and their friends and family.

The Onco'Zine Brief with Peter Hofland

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