Medical Oncology
Physician insights on cancer treatment protocols, immunotherapy, targeted therapies, and clinical trial updates.
Recent Discussions
Would you offer adjuvant immunotherapy (pembrolizumab) for chromophobe RCC with R1 resection?
I have not experienced this situation yet in my own clinical practice but I would not offer adjuvant IO nor adjuvant radiation therapy for this patient. IO therapy has limited efficacy in this histology. This was shown best in the KEYNOTE-427 (monotherapy pembrolizumab in metastatic nccRCC, McDermo...
After completing SRS for brain mets, how long should the medical oncologist wait before starting chemotherapy?
I usually don't ask the medical oncologist to wait to deliver chemotherapy after SRS for brain mets. When delivering whole brain radiotherapy, there is some breakdown of the "blood-brain barrier" and this may account for the increased toxicity we see when chemotherapy is delivered during whole brain...
For HRRm prostate cancer, will you use olaparib alone or in combination with abiraterone?
The combination of a PARP inhibitor with a next-generation hormonal agent, including the combination of olaparib with abiraterone acetate, is not an FDA-approved combination and I do not recommend using it at this time. Both PROpel and MAGNITUDE showed a PFS benefit for the combination versus abirat...
When would you use PARP inhibitors in patients with refractory metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer with somatic non-BRCA HRD mutations?
This is a very relevant question as clearly there is major heterogeneity in the outcomes with both olaparib and rucaparib in men with mCRPC based on their underlying germline or somatic tumor genomics. In addition, prior therapy and available alternatives including clinical trials with more or less ...
What is your general approach to treatment sequencing of available regimens in castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer?
For mCRPC, my general approach with standard agents is a next-generation AR agent (typically started in the CSPC setting), followed by docetaxel, followed by Lu-PSMA. If disease is progressing slowly and is PSA producing, I will consider a switch from a first-line to a second-line hormonal agent, ty...
What is the role of adrenalectomy in managing isolated recurrence of stage IIIc melanoma, occurring 2 years after the original diagnosis, in a patient who declined adjuvant therapy?
Is the adrenal gland the only site of recurrence? Also, is the recurrence unilateral or bilateral? Unilateral adrenalectomy will not lead to permanent adrenal insufficiency, but bilateral adrenalectomy will (the patient will end up needing maintenance steroids permanently and need to have an endocri...
How would you approach post-operative VTE prophylaxis for renal transplant in patients with a prior history of provoked VTE?
I am not aware of published systematic reviews, risk models, or evidence-based guidelines for post-operative prophylaxis in renal transplant patients. Given both increased risk for VTE and bleeding, it is not surprising that there is a large variation in practice (for relatively recent survey on t...
Do you consider post-NAC isolated tumor cells in LNs to be residual disease in TNBC to justify capecitabine?
The brief answer is yes, I would. These patients were included in the CREATE-X trial (Masuda et al., PMID 28564564). Also, there is data out of Boston that following neoadjuvant chemotherapy, patients with even isolated tumor cells in lymph nodes have a poorer prognosis (Wong et al., PMID 31228134)....
What is your preferred therapy for CDK12-altered advanced prostate cancer, outside clinical trial?
CDK12-mutated prostate cancers are aggressive and typically respond less favorably to AR-directed therapies. The CDK12 gene was on the eligibility list for the PROfound study, so olaparib could be used for mCRPC patients who have progressed on at least one AR-directed agent. In the CDK12-altered sub...
Do you use endocrine therapy concurrently or sequentially with radiation therapy in hormone receptor positive breast cancer patients?
I do it concurrently for patients with high burden of disease (several lymph node positive). Otherwise, I wait as it's likely safe to postpone endocrine therapy a few weeks to after radiation therapy and spare patients concurrent side effects.