In case you missed any, below is a recap of every episode of OncLive On Air® that aired in July 2024. Check out our podcast page for a full episode lineup and to stay up to date with all the latest releases!

FDA Approval Insights: Imetelstat in Lower-Risk MDS and Transfusion-Dependent Anemia

On June 6, 2024, the FDA granted approval to imetelstat (Rytelo) for the treatment of adult patients with low-to-intermediate-1–risk myelodysplastic syndromes and transfusion-dependent anemia who require 4 or more red blood cell (RBC) units over 8 weeks who have lost response to, have not responded to, or are not eligible for treatment with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents. This regulatory decision was supported by findings from the phase 3 IMerge trial (NCT02598661), in which patients treated with imetelstat (n = 118) achieved an 8-week RBC transfusion independence (RBC-TI) rate of 39.8% (95% CI, 30.9%-49.3%) vs 15% (95% CI, 7.1%-26.6%) in those who received placebo (n = 59; P < .001).

In this exclusive episode, Mikkael A. Sekeres, MD, of the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in Florida, highlighted the significance of this approval, key findings from the IMerge trial, and how the use of imetelstat affects RBC-TI rates in the absence of myeloid growth factors or platelet transfusions in this population.

“For patients who don’t have a spliceosome mutation, ring sideroblasts, or del(5q) abnormalities, the only [treatment] we had left were hypomethylating agents [HMAs],” Sekeres said. “With imetelstat, we have another option to treat patients, either before or after they’re exposed to HMAs.”

Camidge and White on Crucial Aspects of Patient-Focused Oncology Communication

In this installment of How This Is Building Me, host D. Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, sat down with Jeff White, of the American Society for Radiation Oncology in Washington, DC, to discuss the intersections between White’s head and neck cancer diagnosis and his career in radiation oncology communications career.

“I thought [on this podcast], we’d start to delve into the idea of how cancer ideas were communicated to people,” Camidge noted in the episode.

“I want to emphasize that words matter, and just the slightest word change can mean so much to a patient, in a positive way or a negative way,” White shared. “We interpret things in a way that’s hard to describe. I consider myself a rational person, but if I hear a certain thing, I might interpret it differently than you as a doctor might intend.”

ASCO 2024 Plenary: ADRIATIC Trial in Limited-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer

In this episode of OncLive On Air’s partnership with 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, discussed common risk factors, pathology, presentation, and staging of small cell lung cancer (SCLC); the current standard of care (SOC) for patients with limited-stage SCLC (LS-SCLC); and key findings from the durvalumab (Imfinzi) monotherapy and placebo arms of the phase 3 ADRIATIC trial (NCT03703297) in patients with LS-SCLC who had not progressed following concurrent chemoradiotherapy.

“Between 65% and 70% of patients with LS-SCLC won’t survive 5 years…after aggressive, curative chemoradiation,” Armstrong noted. “We knew as a community that we needed to improve on this.”

“This was definitely exciting in terms of changing the SOC in LS-SCLC,” Tawagi stated. “It will be interesting once we have the full manuscript to get those full data. A minority of patients in the placebo group did receive immunotherapy as subsequent treatment; this is a bit different than the [phase 3 LAURA trial (NCT03521154)], where there was a high crossover rate in terms of patients being able to receive the [investigational] therapy eventually.”

Orlowski on Isa-VRd in Transplant-Ineligible Multiple Myeloma

In this exclusive interview, Robert Z. Orlowski, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, discussed key findings from the phase 3 IMROZ trial (NCT03319667) evaluating isatuximab-irfc (Sarclisa), bortezomib (Velcade), lenalidomide (Revlimid), and dexamethasone (Isa-VRd) vs VRd in patients with newly diagnosed, transplant-ineligible multiple myeloma; the quality-of-life impact of Isa-VRd; and how these data may inspire additional research with quadruplet regimens in transplant-ineligible multiple myeloma.

“From my perspective, the implications of this study are that 4-drug regimens can be safely given to transplant-ineligible, newly diagnosed patients,” Orlowski emphasized. “This will be the first [quadruplet regimen] that hopefully gains a lot of traction in the United States.”

Curigliano on the DESTINY-Breast06 Trial in HER2-Low and -Ultralow Metastatic Breast Cancer

In this episode, Giuseppe Curigliano, MD, PhD, of the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, Italy, discussed the characteristics of the patient population enrolled in the phase 3 DESTINY-Breast06 trial (NCT04494425), which evaluated fam-trastuzumab-deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXD; Enhertu) in patients with HER2-low or HER2-ultralow metastatic breast cancer; findings from the trial; and the importance of broadening pathology assessments to include all established HER2 expression subgroups.

“DESTINY-Breast06 establishes T-DXd as an effective new treatment option for patients with hormone receptor (HR)–positive, HER2-low and HER2-ultralow metastatic breast cancer following 1 line of endocrine-based therapy,” Curigliano said. “The results are consistent in both subgroups, and there was a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement both in median progression-free survival and overall survival [with the antibody-drug conjugate].” 

Bui and Kelly Discuss the Utility of Nab-Sirolimus in Advanced Malignant PEComa

In this exclusive conversation, Nam Bui, MD, of the Stanford Cancer Institute in California, and Ciara Kelly, MBBCh, BAO, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, New York, highlighted long-term findings from the phase 2 AMPECT trial (NCT02494570), which evaluated nab-sirolimus (Fyarro) in patients with advanced malignant perivascular epithelioid cell tumors (PEComa); the efficacy of nab-sirolimus in patients requiring dose reductions on the trial; and the utility of this agent in all patients with PEComa, regardless of biomarker status.

“These responses are durable,” Bui emphasized. “In other tumors, targeted therapies sometimes get resistant mutations, and therefore, there is progression. [Responses with nab-sirolimus] last for many, many years… Especially for patients with TSC2 mutations, I am reassured that they will continue to maintain a great response many years down the road.”

“Importantly, there were some cases where tumor regression was observed in patients with tumors that were wild type for TSC1/2 alterations, and 1 such patient experienced a partial response,” Kelly noted.

Camidge and Kahl Reflect on the Impact of Oncology Journalism

In this episode of How This Is Building Me, host D. Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, was joined by Kristie L. Kahl, MS, of MJH Life Sciences in Cranbury, New Jersey, to discuss how Kahl’s early work in sports communications paved the way for her career in medical writing; the importance of journalistic integrity when communicating medical news to health care providers and patients alike; and the ways that personal connections with cancer inform the career dedication of many professionals working to improve the health care community.

“[At the University of Colorado in Aurora], we had a time when we had a research assistant who was a childhood cancer survivor, we had a nurse who was a childhood cancer survivor, and then it’s like once you scratch the surface and it comes out in a conversation over coffee, everyone else has a story,” Camidge said. “It’s pretty amazing, and I think that increases the sense of togetherness between the patient and the staff.”

“I had a close tie to cancer specifically, so when I got into hematology and oncology, and I was seeing the progress we were making in the cancer space, it lurched me forward into knowing this is what I was meant to do,” Kahl shared.

Miller Discusses the Use of Selinexor in TP53 Wild-Type Advanced Endometrial Cancer

In this episode, David Miller, MD, of the University of Texas Southwestern Harold C. Simmons Cancer Center in Dallas, spotlighted unmet needs in endometrial cancer that prompted the initiation of the phase 3 SIENDO trial (NCT03555422) evaluating selinexor (Xpovio) maintenance therapy in patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer, updated findings from the subgroup analysis of SIENDO in patients with TP53 wild-type disease, and what the future for selinexor development may hold.

“We’re hopeful that [selinexor] could become incorporated into frontline therapy for patients who are TP53 wild type with no specific molecular profile group from the The Cancer Genome Atlas and [who have] mismatch repair [MMR]–proficient [disease],” Miller reported. “We would expect that for patients who [have] MMR-deficient [disease], we would be depending on chemotherapy followed by immunotherapy. In TP53-mutated patients, we would be looking at HER2 [expression, and] we could perhaps then use chemotherapy with HER2-[directed] agents.”

Pegram Details the Use of Oral SERDs in ESR1+ Metastatic Breast Cancer

In this exclusive interview, Mark Pegram, MD, of the Stanford Cancer Institute, reviewed the current role of oral selective estrogen receptor degraders (SERDs) for the treatment of patients with HR-positive metastatic breast cancer, common biomarker testing practices for patients with metastatic breast cancer, and treatment options for patients with ESR1-mutated disease.

“Often in the clinic, we’re faced with the need to have a balanced discussion with patients and let them help weigh in on [treatment] decisions, and oftentimes, that involves patients looking at the expected adverse effect profiles of each drug class,” Pegram emphasized. “Many patients would probably choose the oral SERD for their next line of therapy and reserve PI3K pathway or AKT pathway manipulation for a later line.”