The Fellow on Call: The Heme/Onc Podcast

Rouleaux University Medical Center
  • 4.9 (196)
  • Medicine
  • Updated Semiweekly

We quickly realized we knew very little about hematology and oncology when we started fellowship. Our goal is to bring you the fundamentals, core concepts and important management approaches in our field, driven by the latest evidence and expert opinion. In each episode, we will provide bite-sized, simplified approaches to common questions in a way that is perfect for anyone interested in hematology and oncology, from students and trainees to advanced practice providers and practicing physicians.

  1. 20h ago

    Episode 168: Pancreatic Cancer Series, Pt. 3 – Borderline Resectable and Locally Advanced Disease

    This week we continue our Pancreatic Cancer series with the two middle categories of non-metastatic disease: borderline resectable and locally advanced. Using the case of a 61-year-old woman with a pancreatic body mass abutting the superior mesenteric artery, we walk through the vascular definitions that separate resectable, borderline resectable, and locally advanced disease, then trace how multi-agent chemotherapy borrowed from the metastatic setting became the neoadjuvant backbone. We dig into the newest challenger to mFOLFIRINOX, PAXG in the CASSANDRA trial, and the still-contested role of radiation, from Alliance A021501 to PREOPANC-2. Along the way, we cover why restaging CT can understate response, how LAP07 reframed consolidative chemoradiation in locally advanced disease, and what to offer patients who are not candidates for intensive therapy. As always, if you haven't heard the earlier episodes in this series, start there first. As always, if you haven't listened to parts 1 and 2 (episodes 165 and 166, respectively) This episode is sponsored by Primum! As questions of oncology experts (including pancreatic cancer) free! To learn more and to sign up for your free account, visit Primum.co/fellows ** Want to review the show notes for this episode and others? Check out our website. Love what you hear? Tell a friend and leave a review on our podcast streaming platforms! Twitter: @TheFellowOnCall Instagram: @TheFellowOnCall Listen in on: Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Youtube

    Episode 168: Pancreatic Cancer Series, Pt. 3 – Borderline Resectable and Locally Advanced Disease

  2. Oct 14

    Episode 167: Pancreatic Cancer Series, Pt. 2 – Resectable Disease

    This week our pancreatic cancer series moves from diagnosis to management, starting with resectable disease. Using the case of a 68-year-old man with a 2.8 cm adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head, we define what "resectable" actually means, review the operation and the goal of an R0 resection, and explain why surgery alone is never enough. We then trace the adjuvant story from ESPAC-1 and CONKO-001 to today's two standards, modified FOLFIRINOX (PRODIGE 24) and gemcitabine-capecitabine (ESPAC-4), before taking on the surgery-first versus neoadjuvant debate (NORPACT-1, PREOPANC, SWOG S1505), the question of preoperative biliary stenting, and what is coming next. As always, if you haven't listened to part 1 of this series, start there first. This episode is sponsored by Primum! As questions of oncology experts (including pancreatic cancer) free! To learn more and to sign up for your free account, visit Primum.co/fellows ** Want to review the show notes for this episode and others? Check out our website. Love what you hear? Tell a friend and leave a review on our podcast streaming platforms! Twitter: @TheFellowOnCall Instagram: @TheFellowOnCall Listen in on: Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Youtube

    Episode 167: Pancreatic Cancer Series, Pt. 2 – Resectable Disease

  3. Oct 7

    Episode 166: Pancreatic Cancer Series, Pt. 1 – Biology, Diagnosis, and Staging

    This week we kick off a brand-new series on pancreatic cancer, starting with the fundamentals. Using the case of a 68-year-old man with painless jaundice, weight loss, and new-onset diabetes, we cover the epidemiology and sobering survival statistics of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the major risk factors (and why late-onset diabetes is often a consequence rather than a cause), universal germline testing and the hereditary syndromes worth knowing for the boards, and how tumor location in the head, body, or tail shapes presentation. We then walk through the diagnostic workup (pancreatic-protocol CT, MRI/MRCP, EUS-guided biopsy, and the therapeutic role of ERCP), the pitfalls of CA 19-9, precursor lesions and the four-gene molecular story led by KRAS, somatic profiling for actionable targets, and the resectability framework that will drive treatment decisions for the rest of the series. This episode is sponsored by Primum! As questions of oncology experts (including pancreatic cancer) free! To learn more and to sign up for your free account, visit Primum.co/fellows ** Want to review the show notes for this episode and others? Check out our website. Love what you hear? Tell a friend and leave a review on our podcast streaming platforms! Twitter: @TheFellowOnCall Instagram: @TheFellowOnCall Listen in on: Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Youtube

    Episode 166: Pancreatic Cancer Series, Pt. 1 – Biology, Diagnosis, and Staging

  4. Sep 23

    Episode 165: CLL Updates Series, Pt. 2 – Relapsed/Refractory in 2026

    This week we wrap up our two-part CLL update by turning to relapsed and refractory disease. We pick up with the 68-year-old man from Part 1, now a year out from frontline therapy and showing signs of relapse. We cover when relapse actually needs treatment, the history of BTK inhibitor resistance and why BTK mutation testing matters, and how to sequence therapy now that BTK inhibitors and venetoclax have both moved into the frontline. From there we get into venetoclax retreatment, the pirtobrutinib data from BRUIN CLL-321 and the new BRUIN CLL-322 triplet trial, the real-world CAR T experience that is changing how we think about cell therapy in CLL, bispecific antibodies, and the emerging class of BTK degraders. As always, if you haven't heard the earlier episodes in this series, start there first. If you haven’t done so, be sure to check out our original CLL Series and our CLL Updates Part I episode as this update will draw on concepts covered previously! **This episode is sponsored by The Lymphoma, Leukemia and Myeloma Congress! To learn more and register for the meeting, click here! Be sure to use our SPECIAL TFOC code TFOC40 to save 40% off registration. ** Want to review the show notes for this episode and others? Check out our website. Love what you hear? Tell a friend and leave a review on our podcast streaming platforms! Twitter: @TheFellowOnCall Instagram: @TheFellowOnCall Listen in on: Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Youtube

    Episode 165: CLL Updates Series, Pt. 2 – Relapsed/Refractory in 2026

  5. Sep 16

    Episode 164: CLL Updates Series, Pt. 1 – Frontline Therapy in 2026

    This week we kick off a two-part update to our CLL series, covering what has changed in frontline management since our original episodes. Using the case of a 68-year-old man with newly diagnosed, symptomatic CLL, we revisit the essential steps before treatment: confirming an indication to treat, ruling out Richter's transformation, and risk stratification, with the history behind FISH cytogenetics, IGHV status, and the CLL-IPI. We then trace how continuous BTK inhibitors and fixed-duration venetoclax-obinutuzumab displaced chemoimmunotherapy, before digging into the trials reshaping practice in 2026: AMPLIFY, SEQUOIA Arm D, and CLL17. Along the way, we cover the open questions for TP53-aberrant disease and why MRD, although prognostic, is not yet a reliable guide for treatment decisions with novel agents. If you haven’t done so, be sure to check out our original CLL Series, as these updates will draw on concepts covered previously! **This episode is sponsored by The Lymphoma, Leukemia and Myeloma Congress! To learn more and register for the meeting, click here! Be sure to use our SPECIAL TFOC code TFOC40 to save 40% off registration. ** Want to review the show notes for this episode and others? Check out our website. Love what you hear? Tell a friend and leave a review on our podcast streaming platforms! Twitter: @TheFellowOnCall Instagram: @TheFellowOnCall Listen in on: Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Youtube

    Episode 164: CLL Updates Series, Pt. 1 – Frontline Therapy in 2026

  6. Sep 9

    Episode 163: Head and Neck Cancer Series, Pt. 5 – Recurrent, Relapsed, and Metastatic Disease

    This week the Head and Neck series turns to what happens when local therapy isn't enough — recurrent, relapsed, and metastatic disease. Using the case of a woman with a laryngeal cancer recurrence, we work through the first and most important question (recurrence versus second primary), the workup and biomarkers that steer therapy, local salvage options, the CPS-driven first-line systemic algorithm, second-line and beyond, the distinct world of nasopharyngeal cancer, oligometastatic disease, and the central role of early palliative and supportive care. As always, if you haven't heard the earlier episodes in this series, start there first. **This episode is sponsored by Primum! Sign up for your free account at primum.co/fellows ** Want to review the show notes for this episode and others? Check out our website. Love what you hear? Tell a friend and leave a review on our podcast streaming platforms! Twitter: @TheFellowOnCall Instagram: @TheFellowOnCall Listen in on: Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Youtube

    Episode 163: Head and Neck Cancer Series, Pt. 5 – Recurrent, Relapsed, and Metastatic Disease

  7. Sep 2

    Episode 162: Head and Neck Cancer Series, Pt. 4 – Discussion with Radiation Oncology

    This week the Head and Neck series turns to radiation oncology, with guest Dr. David Palma, a Professor and Radiation Oncologist at the Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre and professor at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University (London, Ontario). A clinician-scientist who splits his time between clinical-trials research and treating head and neck and lung cancers, David walks us through how radiation actually works and gets planned, the de-escalation question, PET after treatment, larynx preservation, re-irradiation, oligometastatic disease, and the proton-versus-photon debate - all with some of the best analogies we've had on the show. **This episode is sponsored by Primum! Sign up for your free account at primum.co/fellows ** Want to review the show notes for this episode and others? Check out our website. Love what you hear? Tell a friend and leave a review on our podcast streaming platforms! Twitter: @TheFellowOnCall Instagram: @TheFellowOnCall Listen in on: Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Youtube

    Episode 162: Head and Neck Cancer Series, Pt. 4 – Discussion with Radiation Oncology

  8. Aug 19

    Episode 161: Career Development Series- Building a Career in Clinical Research

    This week, we are so excited to share the third episode of our Career Development Series episodes, developed in partnership with The American Society of Hematology, The ASH Trainee Council, and Hematopoiesis! For years, our listeners have reached out to our show asking for guidance to help navigate their careers. We are so excited to be partnering with an amazing organization like ASH to help make this happen! This week, we interview Hanny Al-Samkari, MD as he shares his insights on what constitutes clinical research, what a career in clinical research might look like, and how trainees can get involved in clinical research. ** This episode is created in partnership with The American Society of Hematology (https://www.hematology.org/), The ASH Trainee Council (https://www.hematology.org/education/trainees/fellows/trainee-council), and Hematopoiesis (https://www.hematology.org/education/trainees/fellows/hematopoiesis) ** Want to review the show notes for this episode and others? Check out our website. Love what you hear? Tell a friend and leave a review on our podcast streaming platforms! Twitter: @TheFellowOnCall Instagram: @TheFellowOnCall Listen in on: Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Youtube

    Episode 161: Career Development Series- Building a Career in Clinical Research
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About

We quickly realized we knew very little about hematology and oncology when we started fellowship. Our goal is to bring you the fundamentals, core concepts and important management approaches in our field, driven by the latest evidence and expert opinion. In each episode, we will provide bite-sized, simplified approaches to common questions in a way that is perfect for anyone interested in hematology and oncology, from students and trainees to advanced practice providers and practicing physicians.

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