Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind

Michael Fernando and Josh Hurwitz
  • 4.5 (4)
  • Medicine
  • Updated Weekly

Cancer is a fascinating but rapidly evolving discipline - it's a full-time job just keeping up to date. In this podcast, Dr Michael Fernando and Dr Joshua Hurwitz explore the latest trials, research, and practice-changing updates, as well as regular interviews with renowned oncology specialists. Ideal for those starting their training journey, established specialists and anyone interested in medical science, oncological practice, or terrible jokes. Preferably all three. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 3d ago

    218. Back to Basics - Endometrial Cancer

    This week we cover endometrial cancer. It is one of the clearest examples of molecular classification changing how we treat patients. PORTEC-3 randomised women with high-risk disease to pelvic radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy. Adding chemotherapy improved survival, and the benefit held at 10 years. The molecular analysis is where it gets interesting, but you'll have to tune in to find out why! RUBY then showed those same dMMR tumours respond to something else entirely. Adding dostarlimab to carboplatin-paclitaxel in advanced or recurrent disease improved overall survival. Should one molecular result now decide whether a patient gets chemotherapy, immunotherapy or both? In this episode, we unpack both trials and what they mean for practice. Studies Discussed in Today's Episode PORTEC-3 RUBY For more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc! If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at inquisitiveonc@gmail.com Art courtesy of Taryn Silver Music courtesy of AlisiaBeats: https://pixabay.com/users/alisiabeats-39461785/ Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice. Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is recorded with the support of education grants from our foundation partners Pfizer and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Our partners have access to the episode at the same time you do and have no editorial control over the content. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  2. Oct 17

    217. Back to Basics - Advanced Ovarian Cancer

    Last week Josh and Michael discussed early ovarian cancer, but as is always the case many patients either do not respond completely to treatment of their early disease or present with advanced disease and thus are robbed of that chance. In these patients, getting the treatment right is a complex discussion but a vital one. In this episode, we discuss two studies in the advanced ovarian cancer space, a space that could still use more love, but has seen developments in recent years. Studies Discussed in Today's Episode AURELIA ICON4 For more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc! If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at inquisitiveonc@gmail.com Art courtesy of Taryn Silver Music courtesy of AlisiaBeats: https://pixabay.com/users/alisiabeats-39461785/ Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice. Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is recorded with the support of education grants from our foundation partners Pfizer and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Our partners have access to the episode at the same time you do and have no editorial control over the content. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  3. Oct 10

    216. Back to Basics - Early Ovarian Cancer

    Our Back to Basics odyssey nears its end, a journey just as epic as Matt Damon's (we think so, anyway). As we enter the final stretch, we discuss ovarian cancer, a cancer with significant mortality and morbidity despite advances in treatment. In this episode Josh and Michael discuss two studies in the early ovarian cancer space, a topic fraught with challenges as unique as Scylla and Charybdis. Studies Discussed in Today's Episode ICON7 PAOLA-1 For more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc! If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at inquisitiveonc@gmail.com Art courtesy of Taryn Silver Music courtesy of AlisiaBeats: https://pixabay.com/users/alisiabeats-39461785/ Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice. Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is recorded with the support of education grants from our foundation partners Pfizer and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Our partners have access to the episode at the same time you do and have no editorial control over the content. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  4. Sep 20

    215. Back to Basics - Advanced Melanoma

    On this episode, Josh and Michael examine the treatment of advanced melanoma, the condition that blazed the trail for immunotherapy to change the face of cancer treatment. However, immunotherapy is not the ONLY treatment for melanoma, as a significant proportion of cases also harbour a BRAF mutation. So, if you have someone with such an example, what do you do? How would you sequence your treatment? This question, and a reflection on the incredible beginnings of immunotherapy is coming to you on today's episode. Studies Discussed in Today's Episode Checkmate 067 DreamSeq For more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc! If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at inquisitiveonc@gmail.com Art courtesy of Taryn Silver Music courtesy of AlisiaBeats: https://pixabay.com/users/alisiabeats-39461785/ Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice. Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is recorded with the support of education grants from our foundation partners Pfizer and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Our partners have access to the episode at the same time you do and have no editorial control over the content. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  5. Sep 12

    214. Dr Narjust Florez and the rise of early onset lung cancer

    Our guest today is someone whose work touches almost every corner of oncology: from the exam room to the lab to the systems we work within. Dr Narjust Florez, MD, FASCO, is a thoracic medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, where she treats young patients and women with lung cancer and leads a research program spanning early diagnosis, clinical trials, and cancer health disparities. She's the Associate Director of the Cancer Care Equity Program and leads the EQUAL Study, which tackles disparities in lung cancer screening among Hispanic and East Asian patients. She's also become one of the most influential voices on physician wellness and burnout in oncology, and on building a more equitable path for women and underrepresented trainees in the field — work that's earned her recognition as the youngest Fellow ever named to the Association for Clinical Oncology, and a spot as JAMA Oncology's first Latina Associate Editor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Please welcome Dr Narjust Florez. For more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc! If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at inquisitiveonc@gmail.com Art courtesy of Taryn Silver Music courtesy of AlisiaBeats: https://pixabay.com/users/alisiabeats-39461785/ Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice. Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is recorded with the support of education grants from our foundation partners, Pfizer and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Our partners have access to the episode at the same time you do and have no editorial control over the content. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  6. Sep 7

    213. Back to Basics - Early Melanoma

    In this episode, Michael and Josh delve into the world of early melanoma. Some may think that melanoma has had its moment in the sun (pun slightly intended) and that other cancer treatments are passing it by. But in this instance, you can teach an old dog new tricks, an old immunotherapy dog, to be precise. In addition, one of today's studies has Michael's favourite design of any trial: see if you can figure out which one! Studies Discussed in Today's Episode KEYNOTE-054 NADINA For more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc! If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at inquisitiveonc@gmail.com Art courtesy of Taryn Silver Music courtesy of AlisiaBeats: https://pixabay.com/users/alisiabeats-39461785/ Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice. Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is recorded with the support of education grants from our foundation partners Pfizer and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Our partners have access to the episode at the same time you do and have no editorial control over the content. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  7. Aug 29

    212. Back to Basics - Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer

    If you like cemiplimab, you will like this episode. Since its introduction, cemiplimab has become the mainstay of treatment for cutaneous SCC, the most common non-melanoma skin cancer likely to attend an oncologist. Cemiplimab's scope is expanding; once reserved purely for the locally advanced or metastatic setting, evidence is emerging for its efficacy in the neoadjuvant setting. Today, Josh and Michael explore the use cases for cemiplimab in cSCC NOTE: this episode was NOT sponsored by cemiplimab! Studies Discussed in Today's Episode Migden et al. (2018) Gross et al (2023) For more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc! If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at inquisitiveonc@gmail.com Art courtesy of Taryn Silver Music courtesy of AlisiaBeats: https://pixabay.com/users/alisiabeats-39461785/ Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice. Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is recorded with the support of education grants from our foundation partners Pfizer and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Our partners have access to the episode at the same time you do and have no editorial control over the content. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  8. Aug 22

    211. Back to Basics - Hepatocellular Carcinoma

    For over a decade, sorafenib remained unchallenged as first-line therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma, based on the SHARP trial, which showed survival increasing from 7.9 to 10.7 months. This demonstrated modest efficacy in a disease notoriously resistant to systemic treatment. That drought broke in 2020, when IMbrave150 demonstrated that atezolizumab plus bevacizumab beat sorafenib outright, pushing median survival past 19 months and putting immunotherapy on the map for liver cancer. Two years later, HIMALAYA proved that a single priming dose of anti-CTLA-4 could unlock durable responses, with the STRIDE regimen nearly doubling five-year survival compared with sorafenib. Then IMbrave050 asked whether that success could move earlier, into the adjuvant setting after resection — and the early promise didn’t hold up on longer follow-up. Together, these three trials mark both immunotherapy’s arrival in liver cancer and the limits of assuming it translates cleanly across settings. Trials Discussed on Today's Episode: HIMALAYA Trial IMbrave 050 IMbrave 150 For more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc! If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at inquisitiveonc@gmail.com Art courtesy of Taryn Silver Music courtesy of AlisiaBeats: https://pixabay.com/users/alisiabeats-39461785/ Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice. Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind is recorded with the support of education grants from our foundation partners Pfizer and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Our partners have access to the episode at the same time you do and have no editorial control over the content. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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About

Cancer is a fascinating but rapidly evolving discipline - it's a full-time job just keeping up to date. In this podcast, Dr Michael Fernando and Dr Joshua Hurwitz explore the latest trials, research, and practice-changing updates, as well as regular interviews with renowned oncology specialists. Ideal for those starting their training journey, established specialists and anyone interested in medical science, oncological practice, or terrible jokes. Preferably all three. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Michael Fernando and Josh Hurwitz
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    236
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Michael Fernando and Josh Hurwitz
  • Show Website
    Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind

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