Targeted Talks

Targeted Oncology
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Targeted Talks is a podcast series from Targeted Oncology featuring one-on-one conversations with leading oncologists about the issues shaping cancer care today. Each episode explores the real-world challenges clinicians face alongside discussions of emerging research across tumor types. Whether unpacking new data, translating conference highlights into clinical context, or addressing the practical realities of oncology practice, Targeted Talks delivers timely, actionable conversations designed for today's oncology professionals. For more visit: https://www.targetedonc.com/podcasts

  1. 6d ago

    Dr Herzberg on the Expanding Toolkit in KRAS-Mutant Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer

    In this episode of Targeted Talks, Benjamin Herzberg, MD, discusses the evolving treatment landscape for KRAS-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). He explains why KRAS matters to all oncologists, since these mutations drive roughly 30% of NSCLC cases, and reviews why chemoimmunotherapy remains the first-line standard of care for now. He also covers how central nervous system metastases affect treatment planning and why close collaboration with pathology and upfront biomarker testing are essential. Herzberg then turns to the pan-RAS inhibitor daraxonrasib (Rasonque), recently approved in pancreatic cancer, and explains why lung cancer clinicians should pay attention. He discusses its published lung cancer data, which show response rates and durability similar to those in pancreatic cancer, as well as the ongoing phase 3 trial vs docetaxel. He also discusses zoldonrasib, a G12D-specific inhibitor with a favorable tolerability profile, and the idea of a "RAS toolkit" of pan-RAS and allele-specific agents. He closes with the biggest unmet needs, including driver-negative disease and resistance to targeted therapy, and what excites him most: molecular glues and other novel drug modalities, including MTAP/PRMT5 inhibitors. 00:00 Introduction to KRAS-Mutant Lung Cancer00:40 Prevalence and Variants of KRAS Mutations01:41 First-Line Chemoimmunotherapy for KRAS NSCLC03:15 Managing CNS Metastases in Lung Cancer05:11 Upfront Biomarker Testing and Collaboration08:05 Adagrasib's Role in KRAS-Mutant Lung Cancer10:22 Unmet Needs and Resistance Mechanisms12:31 Future of RAS Inhibitors and the RAS Toolkit

  2. Sep 24 ·  Bonus

    ASTRO 2026 Preview: Dr Raj Singh on De-Escalation, Brain Metastases, and What's Next in Radiation Oncology

    Ahead of the 2026 ASTRO Annual Meeting, Dr Raj Singh of Baptist Health joins the podcast to break down the studies he's watching most closely. The conversation opens with a pooled analysis of 3 phase 2 trials using FMISO PET imaging to identify hypoxic tumor regions and select patients with HPV-positive head and neck cancer who may safely de-escalate radiation dose, and Singh discusses what it would take to move this biomarker-driven approach beyond a single high-volume academic center. He then turns to updated C-POST data on the timing of cemiplimab initiation after radiotherapy in high-risk cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, and to Alliance A071801, a phase 3 trial comparing single-fraction vs fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery to the resection cavity after brain metastasis surgery, including why patient-reported cognitive and emotional well-being end points matter alongside recurrence-free survival. The discussion moves to two practice-shaping trials in small cell lung cancer: MAVERICK, which found no overall survival benefit for prophylactic cranial irradiation over MRI surveillance alone in limited-stage disease, and NRG CC009, comparing radiosurgery with hippocampal-avoidance whole brain radiotherapy plus memantine for patients with limited brain metastatic disease. Singh explains how these results may accelerate an already-underway shift away from whole brain radiotherapy. The episode closes with a look at TRIDENT, a tumor-treating fields trial in newly diagnosed glioblastoma that missed its primary end point, and what subgroup data might still reveal—plus Singh's broader take on radiation oncology's shift toward patient-reported, quality-of-life-focused outcomes.

  3. Sep 22

    Bringing CAR T and Bispecifics to the Community

    Andrew Dalovisio, MD, a hematologist/oncologist at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, discusses how his community cancer center built a CAR T and bispecific antibody program from the ground up. He walks through the toxicities associated with these T-cell–engaging therapies, including cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and immune effector cell–associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS), and explains how prophylactic measures and a robust home-monitoring program have made outpatient management feasible. Dalovisio also addresses disparities in access, including insurance coverage gaps and the caregiver burden patients face, updates on REMS program changes affecting travel restrictions, and long-term complications like cytopenias and neurotoxicity that require coordination with academic centers. He closes with advice for oncologists on counseling patients as these therapies move toward earlier lines of treatment.

  4. Sep 15

    Rethinking HER2: A Pan-Cancer Look at IHC, ERBB2, and Tumor-Agnostic Testing

    HER2 has long been synonymous with breast cancer, but a growing body of evidence shows it's expressed, at some level, across nearly every solid tumor type. In this episode of Targeted Talks, host Sabrina Serani sits down with Dr Aditya Shreenivas (City of Hope National Medical Center) and Dr Razelle Kurzrock (Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center) to unpack their new real-world analysis, published in ESMO Open, using data made available by Caris Life Sciences, examining HER2 immunohistochemistry (IHC) expression and ERBB2 alterations across more than 200,000 tumors. The conversation traces how HER2 evolved from a breast cancer biomarker to a tumor-agnostic target, following the accelerated approval of fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd; Enhertu) for HER2 IHC 3+ solid tumors. Drs Shreenivas and Kurzrock walk through the study's key findings: how ERBB2 amplification and mutation status each relate to HER2 IHC expression, why that relationship is more complex—and more clinically important—for mutations than for amplifications, and what it means when the biomarkers disagree. They also dig into overall survival data showing that the prognostic benefit of high HER2 expression is largely concentrated in breast and gastric cancers, where HER2-targeted therapies are already standard of care, vs rarer tumor types like salivary gland and endometrial cancer, where the picture looks different. Listeners will come away with a clearer sense of why HER2 should be treated as a continuous variable rather than a binary positive/negative result, why routine HER2 IHC testing matters for every patient with unresectable or metastatic disease, and where the open questions remain, including discordant cases where amplification and IHC don't line up. A must-listen for oncologists, pathologists, and researchers working across breast, GI, gynecologic, and rare solid tumors who want a real-world, pan-cancer view of the evolving HER2 landscape.

  5. Sep 8

    Radiation Oncology's Financial Squeeze with Dr Ryan Funk

    In this episode of Targeted Talks, Sabrina Serani speaks with Dr Ryan Funk, chief radiation oncology officer at The US Oncology Network and a radiation oncologist with Minnesota Oncology, about the financial pressures reshaping radiation oncology in 2026. While CMS's overhaul of treatment delivery codes into complexity-based tiers has drawn attention, Dr. Funk argues that commercial payer contracts—not Medicare—are the bigger driver of instability, since commercial reimbursement typically funds the margin practices need to reinvest in costly, aging equipment. Dr Funk discusses how practices are responding: tightening collections on contracted payments, delaying staffing cuts, and increasingly facing hard choices about whether to replace linear accelerators at all. He warns that the most visible effect won't be lower-quality care at existing centers, but outright closures, especially among freestanding and rural facilities, which have already seen disproportionate losses over the past decade. Since about half of all patients with cancer require radiation, and access is especially critical for patients traveling daily for treatment, he stresses that this is a multidisciplinary concern, not just a radiation oncology one. The conversation also covers the role of patient advocacy groups, employers, and professional societies like ASTRO and ACRO in applying pressure at both the national and local contract levels, and Dr Funk's advice for physicians to engage more directly with the business side of their practices.

  6. Sep 1

    Gynecologic Cancer Trends, Testing, and Treatment Advances Explained

    Gynecologic cancer incidence is moving in 3 different directions at once, and clinicians outside gynecologic oncology are often the first to see the warning signs. Ovarian cancer incidence is falling as genetic testing and risk-reducing surgery catch more high-risk women before diagnosis, even as its prevalence climbs because patients are living longer on treatment. Cervical cancer incidence continues to decline thanks to Pap and HPV co-testing plus vaccination, though it has not been eliminated. Endometrial cancer is the outlier: incidence is rising, driven largely by aggressive, high-grade subtypes that disproportionately affect Black women.¹ In this episode of Targeted Talks, Sabrina Serani, managing editor of Targeted Oncology, spoke with Noelle Gillette Cloven, MD, a gynecologic oncologist at Texas Oncology's Fort Worth Cancer Center and executive chair of the GYN Research Committee at Sarah Cannon Research Institute, to discuss how these shifting patterns should inform testing, screening, and referral decisions in everyday practice. The conversation is timed to Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month, observed each September to raise awareness of cervical, ovarian, uterine, vaginal, and vulvar cancers. A recurring theme was the distinction between germline and somatic testing in ovarian cancer. Germline testing, done via blood or cheek swab, identifies inherited mutations in genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, present in roughly 20% of ovarian cancers, and carries implications for the patient's relatives. Somatic testing of the tumor itself, including homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) status, is a separate question that determines which patients are likely to benefit from PARP inhibitor maintenance therapy after chemotherapy. Cloven emphasized that an adequate core biopsy, not a fine-needle aspiration, is essential to secure enough tissue for HRD testing and to distinguish high-grade from low-grade serous disease, since treatment approaches for the two differ substantially. Screening gaps surfaced repeatedly. Extended Pap and HPV testing intervals, while evidence-based, make it harder for patients to track when they are due, and Cloven pushed back on guidance to stop cervical cancer screening at 65, noting that more than a third of cervical cancer cases are diagnosed after that age. In endometrial cancer, postmenopausal bleeding is rarely missed, but irregular bleeding in women under 40 is often attributed to obesity or PCOS and treated with oral contraceptives without a biopsy, delaying diagnosis in a population where the disease is less common but not absent. Cloven also flagged a persistent misconception among patients and some clinicians: a Pap test screens only for cervical cancer, not for ovarian, endometrial, or vulvar disease, and a well-woman exam does not automatically include one. On the treatment horizon, Cloven pointed to antibody-drug conjugates producing response rates in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer that she described as the best she has seen in her career, immunotherapy's role in extending survival in metastatic cervical cancer, and early movement toward non-chemotherapy, receptor-targeted options for advanced endometrial cancer guided by molecular profiling. For clinicians outside gynecologic oncology, Cloven's practical takeaways were straightforward: take a thorough family history, since it is often the entry point to genetic testing; do not substitute imaging or a prescription for a pelvic exam when a patient has persistent symptoms; and consider a clinical trial referral at diagnosis rather than as a last resort, since it may offer earlier access to newer therapies. REFERENCE1. Gaber C, Meza R, Ruterbusch JJ, Cote ML. Endometrial cancer trends by race and histology in the USA: projecting the number of new cases from 2015 to 2040. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2017;4:895-903. doi:10.1007/s40615-016-0292-2

  7. Jul 15

    AI in Oncology: Managing Information Overload for Trainees and Patients

    In part 2 of this conversation, oncologists discuss how they help both patients and trainees navigate an overwhelming volume of medical information. The speakers describe encouraging patients to consult reliable resources like NCCN's patient site rather than turning solely to AI chatbots, while also acknowledging patients will inevitably seek outside information and clarification from family. For fellows, the panel emphasizes using training time intentionally: reading about patients in depth before appointments, focusing on core algorithms during subspecialty rotations, and building relationships with mentors who can be lifelong resources. Dr Demel highlights curated tools like condensed literature summaries and topic-specific podcasts as more efficient than reading full journals, especially given the explosive growth in oncology trials and publications over the past two decades alongside rising retraction rates. Dr Mehta describes using voice-based AI during a daily commute to get updated on relevant papers, a habit some fellows have since adopted. The discussion turns to varying attitudes toward AI among colleagues, with speakers describing a spectrum from enthusiastic adopters to skeptics wary of hallucinations. Dr Ji stresses recognizing "good enough" knowledge limits, using AI to stay current on standard-of-care changes and practice-changing trials, while emphasizing that human collaboration and communication remain essential when navigating complex cases beyond one's expertise. The conversation closes with reflections on reading outside one's specialty to address patients' broader health needs, including medication interactions and comorbidities. Panelists describe current AI use as still in its "infancy," with promising applications emerging in patient monitoring, wearable data, and predictive analytics. Take-home messages include "cautious optimism" about AI's power and a prediction that oncologists who learn to use AI effectively will have a distinct advantage in the field's future.

  8. Jul 1

    Drowning in Data: How Oncologists Are Coping with Information Overload in the AI Era

    In this episode of Treating Together, host Dr Pallav Mehta sits down with Dr Kurt Demel and Dr Yan Ji, 2 community-based medical oncologists practicing in the Twin Cities, to tackle a problem every oncologist feels but few have named clearly: information overload. The conversation opens with a deceptively simple question: When does learning become overload? The group traces the line from the genuine joy of working in a constantly evolving field to the point where the sheer volume of trial data, survival end points, and subgroup analyses makes it hard to land on a clear recommendation for the patient in the room. Dr Ji offers a memorable framing for this: the "memory battery" that drains over the course of a clinic day, leaving even thorough research feeling unresolved when conflicting trials point in different directions. From there, the discussion moves into how oncologists actually cope by leaning on colleagues through email threads and group chats, the growing divide between generalist and subspecialist practice, and how increasingly informed patients (armed with their own ChatGPT printouts) are reshaping the visit itself. The back half of the episode digs into AI's expanding role in oncology: ambient note-taking, evidence-summarization tools like OpenEvidence, and AI-assisted clinical trial matching, alongside real concerns about hallucinated summaries, erosion of foundational clinical reasoning in trainees, and the risk of applying trial data to patients who don't resemble the trial population. The episode closes on a note of cautious optimism—AI as a tool to clear away noise, not a replacement for the clinical judgment and human connection that the panel agrees remains the real value an oncologist brings to a patient.

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About

Targeted Talks is a podcast series from Targeted Oncology featuring one-on-one conversations with leading oncologists about the issues shaping cancer care today. Each episode explores the real-world challenges clinicians face alongside discussions of emerging research across tumor types. Whether unpacking new data, translating conference highlights into clinical context, or addressing the practical realities of oncology practice, Targeted Talks delivers timely, actionable conversations designed for today's oncology professionals. For more visit: https://www.targetedonc.com/podcasts

Information

  • Creator
    Targeted Oncology
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    96
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © MJH LifeSciences
  • Show Website
    Targeted Talks

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