Revisit Every OncLive On Air Episode From August 2025

In case you missed any, below is a recap of the episodes of OncLive On Air® that debuted in August 2025. Check out our podcast page for a full episode lineup and to stay up to date with all the latest releases!

Guideline Updates and Trial Data Solidify the Role of HER2/MET IHC Testing in NSCLC: With Martin F. Dietrich, MD, PhD

In this episode of OncLive On Air, Martin F. Dietrich, MD, PhD, of Cancer Care Centers of Brevard in Rockledge, Florida, discusses reasons to test for HER2 mutations and MET alterations in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), best practices for implementing these testing practices in the clinic, and when biomarker testing may be appropriate at disease progression.

“We think of lung cancer as a biomarker[-driven] disease and a complex and heterogeneous subset of diseases,” Dietrich explained. “Patients need biomarker testing across the board, and we should enable that to be done as fast and as broadly as possible through liquid and tissue biopsy and identifying the proper platforms that work for the individual practices.”

Efficacy of Immune Checkpoint Inhibition in Oncology May Translate to Neurologic Disorders: With Shailee S. Shah, MD

In this OncClub episode, Shailee S. Shah, MD, of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, discusses the findings and implications of a retrospective study investigating the effect of immune checkpoint inhibition on patients who have cancer and pre-existing neurologic autoimmune diseases like myasthenia gravis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and Guillain-Barre syndrome.

“Although the risk [of non-anemic iron deficiency exacerbation] is somewhat heterogeneous across different neurologic disease types, these patients are going to require monitoring from both oncologists and neurologists even prior to immune checkpoint inhibitor initiation,” Shah explained.

The Role of Combination Checkpoint Blockade Is Evolving in MSI-H mCRC: With Elena Élez, MD, PhD

In this episode, Elena Élez, MD, PhD, of the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology in Barcelona, Spain, discussed findings from a health-related quality of life analysis of the phase 3 CheckMate 8HW trial (NCT04008030) investigating nivolumab (Opdivo) monotherapy vs nivolumab plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) across multiple lines of therapy in patients with microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), noting that the combination appeared to offer enhanced clinical benefit without a negative effect on tolerability.

“The next step is trying to see the data comparing patients just treated in the frontline setting—not across all lines—between the doublet and the monotherapy and see how we can integrate this into the continuum of care for the MSI-H mCRC population,” Élez emphasized.

The European Approval of Mirdametinib Expands the Treatment Paradigm for NF1-Associated Plexiform Neurofibromas: With Ignacio Blanco, MD, PhD

In this episode, Ignacio Blanco, MD, PhD, of the Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol in Barcelona, discussed the significance of the July 2025 European Commission conditional marketing authorization of mirdametinib (Ezmekly) for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients 2 years of age or older who have symptomatic, inoperable plexiform neurofibromas (PNs) in the context of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1).

“For Europeans, this is a great achievement because…we had no treatment for adult patients with NF1‑associated PNs,” Blanco emphasized. “In the context of NF1, there are a lot of adult patients with symptomatic PNs where [there was] no possibility to offer anything.”

Endometrial (Uterine) Cancer 2025 UPDATE

In this episode of Two Onc Docs, hosts Samantha A. Armstrong, MD, of Indiana University Health in Indianapolis, and Karine Tawagi, MD, of the University of Illinois in Chicago, highlighted tips for the diagnosis and management of uterine and endometrial cancers, including updated surgical standards, available adjuvant therapy options, best practices for molecular testing, and considerations for treating patients who have rare uterine sarcomas.

“Depending on where you train, you may not be exposed to or see a ton of gynecologic oncology unless you have a dedicated gynecologic oncology service you rotate through, so this was a big thing for us to refresh before our boards,” Armstrong explained.

“We’re doing molecular and genomic profiling if available to determine whether you can consider omitting adjuvant therapy,” Tawagi added.

Advancing Treatment Strategies and Real-World Perspectives for mCRC and GI Neuroendocrine Neoplasms; With Rocío García-Carbonero, MD, PhD

In this episode, Rocío García-Carbonero, MD, PhD, of Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre in Madrid, Spain, discussed findings from a subgroup analysis of the phase 3 FRESCO-2 trial (NCT04322539) of fruquintinib (Fruzaqla) in patients with previously treated mCRC.

“I see [fruquintinib] as one more opportunity for our patients,” García-Carbonero stated. “It’s reasonably well tolerated. We know how to manage TKIs by now—there are many TKIs used in the field—and they are something oncologists are comfortable handling. This is good news for our patients.”

Frank’s Path to Advancing Hematology Through Innovation and Discovery: With Girindra Raval, MD; and David A. Frank, MD, PhD, FACP

In this episode of Cancer, Character, and Calling: The Oncologist's Journey, host Girindra Raval, MD, sat down with David A. Frank, MD, PhD, FACP, of Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, to discuss Frank’s educational and career journey, life events that propelled his decision to pursue medicine, and his dedication to expanding the field of hematologic malignancy research.

“Advances [in cancer management] are fantastic, but I don’t want to diminish the importance of being able to relate to another human being. Every patient will come in and will be different,” Frank shared. “They’ll have different backgrounds, different experiences. No matter how sophisticated we may be with next-generation sequencing [NGS], we have to be able to relate to that human being at a level at which they’re comfortable, at which they understand what is happening and feel comfortable and confident moving forward.”

“You have made significant contributions in transcription, the STAT pathway, etc.,” Raval said of Frank.

Exploring NCCN Guideline Updates and Advancing Immunotherapy Strategies in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: With Neal S. Akhave, MD

In this episode, Neal S. Akhave, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, discussed the current role of toripalimab (Loqtorzi) in the nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treatment paradigm, as well as the clinical implications of data from the phase 3 JUPITER-02 trial (NCT03581786) of first-line toripalimab plus gemcitabine and cisplatin in patients with recurrent metastatic or de novo metastatic Epstein–Barr virus–positive NPC.

“[The management of] frontline metastatic disease has been determined by the JUPITER-02 trial and includes cisplatin, or commonly, carboplatin, gemcitabine and now toripalimab,” Akhave explained. “Historically, in the United States, we would be using other PD-1 agents. Now we're capable of using toripalimab, [which is] where really the bulk of evidence [regarding PD-1 inhibition in NPC] exists.”

FDA Approval Insights: Linvoseltamab in Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma: With Nisha Joseph, MD; and Hans Lee, MD

In this episode, Nisha Joseph, MD, of Emory University School of Medicine, and Hans Lee, MD, of the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, Tennessee, highlighted the significance of the FDA approval of linvoseltamab-gcpt (Lynozyfic) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least 4 prior lines of therapy, including a proteasome inhibitor, an immunomodulatory agent, and an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody.

“[This approval] provides a highly effective off-the-shelf agent for the management of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma,” Lee explained.

“When thinking about a bispecific antibody vs CAR T-cell therapy in general, the data in terms of sequencing look better with CAR T-cell therapy before bispecific antibodies,” Joseph noted.

Multidisciplinary Collaboration Gives Forward Momentum to HER2 IHC Testing in NSCLC: With Ronan J. Kelly, MD, MBA, FASCO; and Michelle Shiller, DO, AP/CP, MGP

In this episode, Ronan J. Kelly, MD, MBA, FASCO, and Michelle Shiller, DO, AP/CP, MGP, both from the Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, emphasized the importance of routine HER2 immunohistochemistry (IHC) testing in patients with NSCLC, how IHC results may factor into treatment decisions for these patients, and tips for multidisciplinary IHC testing implementation in clinical practice.

“The era of the antibody-drug conjugates [ADCs] is here,” Kelly said. “What we’ve all been used to is the small molecule TKIs, and we’ve been able to target those based on NGS. What the ADCs will require us to get used to getting more tissue and then running IHC on those.”

“There are all types of different practice settings,” Shiller noted. “In some of them, pathology is a bit further removed from the treating groups. Be proactive and make sure that the testing they are performing is meeting the needs of their clinical providers and also be the advocates as laboratory physicians knowing exactly what the biomarkers are that are relevant.”

How Health Economics Leverages Clinical Research to Advance Patient Care: With D. Ross Camidge, MD, PhD; and Adam Lee

In this episode of How This Is Building Me, host D. Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, sat down with global health economist Adam Lee to talk about Lee's career journey, reflections on the importance of integrating patient-reported outcome data into clinical development, and the importance of considering both the data and the lived experiences of the people participating in clinical trials.

“Health economics is a fascinating area,” Lee shared. “It lends itself to a wide application across pharmaceutical consultancy. Even in the clinical sphere, there’s a lot that can be done with it. I’m hugely passionate about it, and it’s only becoming more important.”

“One of the truisms of oncology is that the perceived efficacy of a treatment tends to [decrease] as you go from the more restrictive clinical trials and phase 1 studies to phase 2 and 3 studies and as you extend from super specialized academic centers that can do all the supportive care to the more community sites,” Camidge noted about the potential applicability of Lee’s work in the community oncology setting.

Refining First-Line Immunotherapy Strategies in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: With Masatoshi Kudo, MD, PhD

In this episode, Masatoshi Kudo, MD, of Kindai University Faculty of Medicine in Osaka, Japan, shared findings and clinical implications from a matched-adjusted indirect comparison of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) plus bevacizumab (Avastin) vs tremelimumab (Imjudo) plus durvalumab (Imfinzi) vs nivolumab plus ipilimumab in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

"Until now, atezolizumab plus bevacizumab has been a frequently used first-line regimen compared with durvalumab plus tremelimumab,” Kudo explained. “However, now, nivolumab plus ipilimumab [may] be the new choice of treatment because of the high efficacy outcomes and acceptable toxicity [profile]. [Additionally], the response rate, progression-free survival, and overall survival [with nivolumab plus ipilimumab] are better than [those associated with] the other 2 regimens.”

SUPRAME Trial Propels the Development of TCR-Based Therapy in Cutaneous Melanoma: With Jason Luke, MD

In this episode, Jason Luke, MD, highlighted discussed the rationale for evaluating the PRAME-directed T-cell receptor T-cell therapy IMA203 in patients with cutaneous melanoma in the ongoing phase 3 SUPRAME trial (NCT06743126), as well as crucial points to consider regarding the drug’s mechanism of action and the trial’s design.

“[An important contribution from SUPRAME] will be identifying patients at the right period in their care,” Luke explained. “What we observed in the phase 1 [ACTengine] trial [NCT03686124] was that you can get responses to this agent even in heavily refractory patients, but the risk of toxicity goes up the [longer] you wait. There’s a lot going on in the immune system as cancer is progressing, and now we’re harnessing and administering a powerful immune treatment.”

Obe-Cel Data Are Poised to Refine and Expand the ALL Treatment Paradigm: With Aaron Logan, MD, PhD; and Bijal Shah, MD, MS

In this episode, Aaron Logan, MD, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Bijal Shah, MD, MS, of Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, talked through the current role of obecabtagene autoleucel (obe-cel; Aucatzyl) in the B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treatment paradigm, how the use of this agent might evolve in the future, and what the ongoing development of CAR T-cell therapy in ALL may have in store.

“Here we can show that in an older patient population who wasn't transplanted, we were seeing these patients receive CAR T-cell therapy as definitive therapy, [and] the outcome was excellent,” Shah emphasized. “We weren't seeing a higher rate of severe infections. We weren't seeing a higher mortality rate. We were seeing the patients do quite well."

“[The safety profile of obe-cel] changes the barriers to proceed to CAR T-cell [therapy] because we are less concerned about toxicity than we are with brexucabtagene autoleucel (Tecartus), so we may use CAR T cell [therapy] earlier in some patients,” Logan added.

FDA Approval Insights: Zongertinib in HER2-Mutated NSCLC: With Ticiana Leal, MD, and Misako Nagasaka, MD, PhD

In this episode, Ticiana Leal, MD, of the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, and Misako Nagasaka, MD, PhD, of the University of California, Irvine Health, spotlighted the clinical significance of the FDA approval of zongertinib (Hernexeos) for the treatment of previously treated patients with HER2 TKD–mutant NSCLC.

“I’m excited to talk to patients about having this new treatment opportunity for patients with HER2-mutated NSCLC,” Leal explained. “It’s key to make sure we are doing broad NGS testing for all our patients with advanced NSCLC at diagnosis.”

“I love the fact that this is an oral option that the patients can take,” Nagasaka mentioned. “Compared with the other agents that have been under development, this agent is finally targeting the target just right.”

FDA Approval Insights: Taletrectinib in ROS1+ Advanced/Metastatic NSCLC: With Joel Neal, MD, PhD; and Christian Rolfo, MD, PhD

In this episode, Joel Neal, MD, PhD, of the Stanford Cancer Institute at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, and Christian Rolfo, MD, PhD, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center—James in Columbus, highlighted the clinical relevance of the FDA approval of taletrectinib (Ibtrozi) for patients with locally advanced or metastatic, ROS1-positive NSCLC.

“It’s exciting that this drug also appears effective in patients who had previous treatment with other ROS1 inhibitors, both the first-generation drug crizotinib [Xalkori], as well as subsequent-generation drugs, such as entrectinib [Rozlytrek] or repotrectinib [Augtyro],” Neal said.

“One of the things we need to do is test patients,” Rolfo emphasized. “That’s the most important part: testing the patients when they are progressing.”