The Onco'Zine Brief

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks with Stephen Spellman. Stephen Spellman is Vice President and Senior Scientific Director at Be The Match and the Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR). Hofland and Spellman talk about the outcomes of a study published in Blood Advances, the journal of the American Society of Hematology. [1] The article discusses the impact of cryopreservation of hematopoietic cell grafts on overall survival (OS) and other outcomes within 1 year after hematopoietic cell transplantation. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic the National Marrow Donor Program as together with other national and international donor registries mandated the cryopreservation of hematopoietic cell grafts during the first 6 months of the pandemic because of patient and donor safety concerns. The reason was that during the early days of the pandemic, delivery of donor products after patient conditioning could not be guaranteed. This was, in part, caused by logistical complexities including travel bans, flight delays and cancellations, rerouting of couriers – as well as closed border crossings… In addition, donors were at risk of being infected with the SARS CoV-2 Virus, the virus that causes COVID-19, which, in turn, resulted in last-minute cancellations of graft collection. To solve the pandemic-related logistical problems, the authors of the study conclude that cryopreservation should be considered a method to eliminate the potential risks with the use of fresh donor graft products or when fresh grafts are not available. But what was the impact of cryopreservation on patients receiving hematopoietic cell transplantation compared to the effects among patients receiving fresh donor products? Was there a difference in overall survival, disease free survival, or disease recurrence? Was there a risk in Graft vs Host Disease? In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Hofland and Spellman talk about this and more. Reference [1] Devine SM, Bo-Subait S, Kuxhausen M, Spellman SR, Bupp C, Ahn KW, Stefanski HE, Auletta JJ, Logan BR, Shaw BE. Clinical impact of cryopreservation of allogeneic hematopoietic cell grafts during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Blood Adv. 2023 Oct 10;7(19):5982-5993. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2023009786. PMID: 37036959; PMCID: PMC10580174. [Article][Pubmed] About The Onco'Zine Brief The Onco’Zine Brief is developed in collaboration with our online journal Onco’Zine, where you can find additional information and the latest news about cancer diagnosis and treatment, and cancer prevention. The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit our Patreon page, or contact the sales team. To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. Support for The Onco’Zine Brief comes from the Oncology Directory and from listeners like you. Funding is also provided by Java Original Coffee and RoastMasterz. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In a new episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland talks with Ely Benaim, MD, the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President Development at SonALAsense and Mark De Souza, Ph.D, President and Chief Executive Officer of SonALAsense. SonALAsense was founded to create hope in the face of despair with Sonodynamic Therapy (SDT), a non-invasive therapy option using SONALA-001 in combination with Insightec’s MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) to treat and eradicate deadly cancers like High-Grade Gliomas (HGG) that typically require debilitating brain surgery that often leads to tumor recurrence. SonALAsense’s SDT uses SONALA-001, a proprietary formulation of aminolevulinic acid (ALA), to disrupt heme metabolism in tumor cells, increasing production of protoporphyrin, a heme precursor. From there, energy from focused ultrasound excites protoporphyrin molecules, which produce reactive oxygen species that destroy cancer cells. Recently, Hasan Syed, MD, at Children’s National Hospital published a peer-reviewed paper on the first DIPG patient treated with SONALA-001 in the Journal of Neuro-Oncology; a major milestone for this deadly and understudied childhood disease. [1] Hofland, Benaim and De Souza talk about new technologies in the treatment of difficult to treat cancers. Reference [1] Syed HR, Kilburn L, Fonseca A, Nazarian J, Oluigbo C, Myseros JS, Packer RJ, Keating RF. First-in-human sonodynamic therapy with ALA for pediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma: a phase 1/2 study using low-intensity focused ultrasound : Technical communication. J Neurooncol. 2023 Apr;162(2):449-451. doi: 10.1007/s11060-023-04269-8. Epub 2023 Apr 12. PMID: 37046110. About The Onco'Zine Brief The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit our Patreon page, or contact the sales team. To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee and Roastmasterz by Java Original Coffee. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In a new episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland talks with Jeffery Auletta, MD is Senior Vice President, Patient Outcomes and Experience, National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP)/Be The Match®. Be The Match® is a global leader in bone marrow transplantation. The organization conducts research to improve transplant outcomes provide support and resources for patients, and partner with a global network. Unmet medical need Every three or four minutes, someone in the United States is diagnosed with a hematological malignancy such as leukemia, a cancer of blood-forming tissues, including bone marrow. For many patients, their only hope for a cure is a stem cell transplant. In the program, Hofland and Auletta talk about these unmet medical needs and about the new developments exploring the use of a standardized method of assessing measurable residual disease (MRD) before allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) in patients with leukemia and how this provides valuable insight into MRD as a predictive tool to inform HCT decisions and individualize treatment to improve outcomes. Hofland and Auletta also talk about the importance of people to join and register with Be The Match® as a bone marrow donor to bring hope to people in need. About The Onco'Zine Brief The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit our Patreon page, or contact the sales team. To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee and Roastmasterz by Java Original Coffee. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In a new episode of The Onco'Zine Brief, Peter Hofland talks with David M. Cognetti, MD, a Professor and Chair in the Department Head and Neck Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. Hofland and Cognetti talk about head and neck cancer and a novel treatment approach called Photoimmunotherapy. Head and Neck Cancer According to the American Cancer Society, Head and neck cancer accounts for about 4% of all cancers in the United States. In the United States in 2023, an estimated 67,000 people will be diagnosed with head and neck cancer and about 15,000 patients are expected to die of the disease. Today, many cancers of the head and neck can be cured, especially if they are found early. And while eliminating the cancer is the primary goal of treatment, preserving the function of the nearby nerves, organs, and tissues is also very important. Beyond Current Treatment Photoimmunotherapy is a recently developed hybrid cancer therapy to treat diseases by linking specific antibodies with photosensitizers to form photoimmunoconjugates. But let’s go back to the beginning. Surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy have dominated the treatment of oncologic. These therapies aim to eradicate cancer cells but, unfortunately, do that at the expense of normal, or healthy cells/ In turn, this can lead to severe and sometimes lethal side-effects. Overall, the success of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy is measured by what we call a ‘therapeutic index.’ This ‘therapeutic index’ compares the potential benefits of treatment to the potential risks associated with treatment. Unfortunately, the unintended, off-target side effects of these therapies can have profound effects on the health-related quality of life of patients. For example, both radiation and chemotherapy sometimes preferentially kill lymphocytes much earlier than cancer cells because of the increased radiation sensitivity and high proliferation rate of lymphocytes, potentially leading to dose-limiting toxicity for some chemotherapy regimens. To find a solution, researchers have developed new therapeutic strategies. And while these therapies have created an exciting new direction for the treatment of cancer therapy, there remain limitation to these novel approaches. Now, in theory, the perfect cancer therapy would both directly destroy cancer cells to minimize residual cancer cells as well as activate the local host immune response to wipe out remaining cancer cells. And while such a therapy would be highly selective for cancer cells but have minimal or no off-target effects in the tumor microenvironment. Photoimmunotherapy And that’s where photoimmunotherapy comes in. Photoimmunotherapy, designed to selectively destroy target cells. The therapy that induces direct cancer killing via immunogenic cell death, thus activating the anti-cancer immune system locally in the tumor microenvironment. The specificity of this approach comes from the antibody that is designed to target an expressed antigen on the tumor surface and is conjugated to the photo-activating chemical. The safety of Photoimmunotherapy is based on the fact that the antibody–photo-absorber conjugate predominantly binds to specifically targeted cancer cells and that it is only activated in areas exposed to Near-infrared light at a specific activating wavelength. By choosing tumor-specific antigens, this therapy specifically destroys cancer cells while not or only minimally harming any adjacent normal or healthy cells, particularly tumor-infiltrating immune T cells or blood vessels. Furthermore, the photo-activating chemical is a water-soluble photo-absorbing dye without cytotoxic properties of its own. Clinical studies have shown that this combination can enhance the immune response, and, as a result, have a good effect on the treatment of residual tumor and metastatic cancer. The first human study of a Photoimmunotherapy was with ASP-1929 – which is being developed by Rakuten Medical...

In this episode of The Onco'Zine Brief, Peter Hofland talks with two experts about their research and the impact the outcomes from these studies may have on the treatment of patients diagnosed with cancer. First, Hofland talks with Christopher Heery, MD. Dr Heery is a board-certified medical oncologist with primary expertise in the translational and clinical development of immunotherapies, including, but not limited to PD-L1 inhibitors, therapeutic cancer vaccines, immune suppressor modulator, adoptive NK cells, and other therapeutics. As the chief medical officer at Arcellx, he is responsible for medical oversight, clinical strategy, medical affairs, and regulatory strategy for the company’s pipeline of novel – investigational drug. In the second half of the program, Hofland talks with Srdan Verstovsek, Dr Srdan Verstovsek, MD, PhD., a Medical Oncologist and Professor in the Department of Leukemia at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, about some of the developments in the treatment of myeloproliferative neoplasm, which are types of blood cancer that begin with an abnormal mutation or change, in a stem cell in the bone marrow. These change leads to an overproduction of any combination of white cells, red blood cells and platelets – and results in a number of diseases, including: Essential ThrombocythemiaMyelofibrosisPolycythemia Vera In a new episode of The Onco'Zine Brief, Peter Hofland talks with David M. Cognetti, MD, a Professor and Chair in the Department Head and Neck Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. Hofland and Cognetti talk about head and neck cancer and a novel treatment approach called Photoimmunotherapy. Head and Neck Cancer According to the American Cancer Society, Head and neck cancer accounts for about 4% of all cancers in the United States. In the United States in 2023, an estimated 67,000 people will be diagnosed with head and neck cancer and about 15,000 patients are expected to die of the disease. Today, many cancers of the head and neck can be cured, especially if they are found early. And while eliminating the cancer is the primary goal of treatment, preserving the function of the nearby nerves, organs, and tissues is also very important. Beyond Current Treatment Photoimmunotherapy is a recently developed hybrid cancer therapy to treat diseases by linking specific antibodies with photosensitizers to form photoimmunoconjugates. But let’s go back to the beginning. Surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy have dominated the treatment of oncologic. These therapies aim to eradicate cancer cells but, unfortunately, do that at the expense of normal, or healthy cells/ In turn, this can lead to severe and sometimes lethal side-effects. Overall, the success of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy is measured by what we call a ‘therapeutic index.’ This ‘therapeutic index’ compares the potential benefits of treatment to the potential risks associated with treatment. Unfortunately, the unintended, off-target side effects of these therapies can have profound effects on the health-related quality of life of patients. For example, both radiation and chemotherapy sometimes preferentially kill lymphocytes much earlier than cancer cells because of the increased radiation sensitivity and high proliferation rate of lymphocytes, potentially leading to dose-limiting toxicity for some chemotherapy regimens. To find a solution, researchers have developed new therapeutic strategies. And while these therapies have created an exciting new direction for the treatment of cancer therapy, there remain limitation to these novel approaches. Now, in theory, the perfect cancer therapy would both directly destroy cancer cells to minimize residual cancer cells as well as activate the local host immune response to wipe out remaining cancer cells. And while such a therapy would be highly selective for cancer cells but have minimal or no off-target effects in the tumor...

Antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs are a class of biopharmaceutical drugs designed as a targeted therapy for treating cancer. However, unlike chemotherapy, ADCs are intended to directly target and kill tumor cells while, at the same time sparing normal, healthy cells. Antibody-drug conjugates consist of three parts: Today, antibody-drug conjugates have widespread treatment potential in obcology and hematology, and beyond. However, safe manufacturing of these highly potent drugs requires also requires a highly skilled capable team of experts in well-controlled manufacturing facilities. In this episode of the Onco’Zine Brief, produced in collaboration with ADC Review | Journal of Antibody-drug Conjugates, Peter Hofland talks with Dr. Matthias Bucerius. Dr. Bucerius is Vice President and General Manager at MilliporeSigma. He is responsible for Contract Development and Manufacturing Organsation (CDMO) business of the company, leading a fully integrated global team with Manufacturing Operations, Commercial, Marketing & Strategy, Technology & Innovation organizations. The company is helping its clients in developing and manufacturing a variety of products, including antibody-drug conjugates. Antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs are targeted therapies that have opened new ways in targeting diseases like cancer and hematological malignancies. What is unique about ADCs is that they leverage the specific targetability benefits offered by antibodies and combine that with the high potency of small-molecule drugs. This combination makes these agents uniquely targetable therapies. And unlike traditional chemotherapy, these ADCs target tumors by delivering the attached payload to destroy cancer cells while sparing the healthy or normal cells, thereby potentially reducing negative side effects for patients. About The Onco'Zine Brief The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, Download our Media Kit, or visit our Patreon page. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine. The Onco'Zine Newslette The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee – the home of artisan roasted coffee and Roastmasterz by Java Original. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In December 2022 the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology took place in the vibrant city of New Orleans and brought together tens of thousands of participants from across the world to present and discuss the results of studies that ranged from initial hypothesis to practice-changing results. In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland talks to two people about their research and the impact the outcomes from these studies may have. First, Hofland talks with Thomas G. Martin, MD. Martin is the Associate Director of the University of California San Francisco Myeloma Program and Director of the Unrelated Donor Transplantation program for adults at UCSF Medical Center. Martin's research interests include developing treatments for myeloma and leukemia as well as expanding the use of bone marrow transplants. He has a special interest in umbilical cord blood transplants, and he is involved in efforts to improve outcomes for patients who have transplants from unrelated donors. In this episode Hofland and Martin talk about updated results from a Phase 1b expansion study evaluating subcutaneous administration of Isatuximab-irfc (Sarclisa®; Sanofi) by an on-body delivery system in combination with pomalidomide (Pomalyst®; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company) and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. How does subcutaneous delivery vs. intravenous administration of Isatuximab benefits patients? Hofland and Martin also talk about the results of a Subgroup Analysis of the IKEMA trial. Then, With Monica Soni, MD, Director of Specialty Care for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, the second-largest municipal health system in the United States. She is also an assistant clinical professor within the UCLA Department of Medicine. Soni is commitment to improving quality, equity and affordability in health care. In this episode Hofland and Soni talks about the results of a study in which the investigators looked at the utilization of bone-modifying agents (BMA) in the treatment of multiple myeloma, particularly among Medicaid patients. What invesrigatriors found was shocking! About The Onco'Zine Brief The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit Patreon at or contact the sales team. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine. To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee – the home of artisan roasted coffee. Clinical trial Multinational Clinical Study Comparing Isatuximab, Carfilzomib And Dexamethasone To Carfilzomib And Dexamethasone In Relapse And/Or Refractory Multiple Myeloma Patients (IKEMA) -NCT03275285 Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In the 100th episode of the Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Stephen Spellman, Vice President of Research and Senior Scientific Director of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research at the National Marrow Donor Program/Be the Match. In the program today Hofland and Spellman talk about bone-marrow transplants. The likelihood of finding a fully matched unrelated donor for a patient who needs a bone marrow transplantvaries greatly depending on a patient’s ethnic background, and that ethnically diverse patients have – historically – been at a disadvantage. However, new research shows that when donor registry models are expanded to include mismatched unrelated donors, finding access for patients may greatly improve.[1] Based on this understanding, Spellman believes that mismatched unrelated donors hold the key to erasing the gap in donor availability and deliver allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) to all patient populations. For more information about the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, please visit the organization’s website. About The Onco'Zine Brief The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit Patreon at or contact the sales team. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine. To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee – the home of artisan roasted coffee. Reference [1] Spellman S. Is finding a Donor for All in Need of Allogeneic HCT Possible? New Modeling Says Yes – Onco’Zine on September 5, 2022. [Link to article] Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this edition of The Onco'Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D, talks with Susanna F. Greer, Ph.D. the Chief Scientific Officer of the V Foundation. In her role, Dr. Greer is a visionary ambassador of the V Foundation, who works with the foundation’s Scientific Advisory Committee to steer funding to the most promising research opportunities. An accomplished strategist, she develops and articulates priorities to enhance the V Foundation’s research portfolio, gifts, grants, and sponsorships that advance the V Foundation’s distinctive brand of cutting-edge and disruptive research. The V Foundation was founded in 1993 by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano, legendary NC State University basketball coach and ESPN commentator. The mission of the V Foundation is to funds game-changing research and all-star scientists to accelerate Victory Over Cancer® and save lives. Today the V Foundation funds research for all cancer types, at leading cancer centers and research facilities nationwide. The organization awards 100% of direct donations to cancer research and programs. The Foundation’s endowment covers administrative expenses. About The Onco'Zine Brief The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit Patreon at or contact the sales team. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine. To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee – the home of artisan roasted coffee. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

Despite availability of endocrine therapies for advanced or metastatic breast cancer, there remains a critical unmet need for more effective and convenient treatment options that improve both the patient experience and health outcomes. In today’s episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Sean P. Bohen, MD, Ph.D., the president and Chief Executive Officer of Olema Therapeutics. Olema Terapeutics is developing new treatment options designed to improve outcomes for women with metastatic breast cancer. The company’s lead investigational drug is OP-1250. This drug is a is a novel agent with combined activity as both an advanced complete estrogen receptor antagonist, and a selective estrogen receptor degrader. This approach is expected to drive deeper, more durable responses than currently available therapies. OP-1250 is currently in development as a treatment for estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (ER+/HER2- MBC), in both monotherapy and combination settings. About The Onco'Zine Brief The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit Patreon at or contact the sales team. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine. To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee – the home of artisan roasted coffee. Clinical trials - Phase 1b Combo w/ Ribociclib and Alpelisib | NCT05508906 - A Phase 1 Study of Oral OP-1250 in Combination With Palbociclib in HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer Patients - NCT05266105 -A Dose Escalation/Expansion Study of Oral OP-1250 in Subjects With Advanced and/or Metastatic HR+, HER2- Breast Cancer - NCT04505826 Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

The annual congress of the European Society for Medical oncology or ESMO, is one of the most influential oncology meetings for clinicians, researchers, patient advocates, and healthcare industry representatives from all over the world. This year the annual Congress was held September 9 - 13, 2022 in the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris, France. In this episode of the Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D., talks with: - Eric Vivier DVM, Ph.D, senior vice president and scientific officer of Innate Pharma about anti-cancer drugs designed to harness the power of Natural Killer (NK-) Cells. During the ESMO Congress, the company presented a number of studies discussing the safety and efficacy of lacutamab in patients with relapsed/refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma that express KIR3DL2 and the design of multispecific antibodies (ANKET for antigen-specific activation of NK cells). - Daniel Teper, PharmD, MBA, co-founder, chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of Cytovia Therapeutics, a company developing Precision NK Therapeutics which may revolutionize cancer treatment. During the annual ESMO Congress, the company presented new preclinical data for its GPC3 Flex-NK™ cell engager antibody in combination with natural killer cells. - Neil H. Bander, MD, Director of Urological Oncology Research at Weill Cornell Medicine and Co-founder of Convergent Therapeutics about prostate cancer. The company is developing a therapeutic platform that is capable of targeting validated and novel cancer antigens, including the first antibodies to specifically target prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA). About The Onco'Zine Brief The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit Patreon at or contact the sales team. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine. To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee – the home of artisan roasted coffee. Clinical trials Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

Glioblastoma is an aggressive type of cancer that can occur in the brain or spinal cord. And while the disease can occur at any age, it tends to occur more often in older people. According to the American Cancer Society, United States, doctors diagnose between 12,000 and 14,000 patients with glioblastoma in the U.S. each year. There is currently no cure for glioblastoma. The median length of survival after a diagnosis is 15- 18 months, while the disease’s five-year survival rate is around 10%. And while all glioblastomas recur, initial treatments may keep the tumor controlled for months or even years. To improve the current standard of care, ongoing research and development is required. Earlier this year, researchers at Modifi Biosciences published a critical study in thejournal Science, validating a new oncology platform based on new classes of molecules that exploit tumor-associated DNA repair defects through direct cancer cell DNA modification. This approach redefines the rules on how to selectively kill cancer cells via direct DNA modification The technology bypasses conventional approaches that indirectly target proteins in cancer cells and demonstrates robust anti-tumor activity in glioma, one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer, while sparing normal tissue. In the publication in Science, a new class of molecules were found to be very selective against cancer cells that lack expression of a key DNA repair protein. And approximately half of all glioblastomas and up to 80% of gliomas lack this particular protein. Furthermore. emerging research indicates that this deficiency is seen in many other tumor types, suggesting broad applicability for this strategy in treating cancer. Based on this research, scientists at Modifi Bio are creating a new class of molecules, based on research conducted at Yale. In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Ranjit S. Bindra, MD, Ph.D., a physician-scientist at Yale School of Medicine and the co-founder of Modify Bio. Reference [1] Lin K, Gueble SE, Sundaram RK, Huseman ED, Bindra RS, Herzon SB. Mechanism-based design of agents that selectively target drug-resistant glioma. Science. 2022 Jul 29;377(6605):502-511. doi: 10.1126/science.abn7570. Epub 2022 Jul 28. PMID: 35901163. About The Onco'Zine Brief The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit Onco'Zine to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon to become a Sustaining Member of the show and support the program. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine. To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

Your annual doctors- (or wellness-) visit may not be enough to prevent diseases like cancer. Daily health and lifestyle choices are the key to cancer prevention - but what are these choices? What is important? In "It’s Time you Knew’ - The Power of Your Choices to Prevent Women's Cancer", board certified gynecological oncologist Dr Valene Wright offers simple and straightforward tools to help women listen to their own body – and in doing so take control of their own health. In this episode Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with board certified gynecological oncologist and surgeon Valene Wright, MD. In her book, Wright helps women - but also men - to make critical choices help prevent cancer. To order Dr. Wright's book, click on the link: https://amzn.to/3P5wIxl About The Onco'Zine Brief The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

After checking your cholesterol, hemoglobin A1C, and glucose level during your annual wellness check, your primary care phycisian says: 'It looks like we haven't done your genome. Why don't we do that?' How would you respond? If you have a genetic mutation that increases your risk for a treatable medical condition, would you want to know? For many people the answer is yes. But typically, such information has not been a part of routine primary care. In this episode Peter Hofland PhD talks with Noelle Carbognin and Elizabeth Chao, MD, FACMG, a Medical Geneticist at UC Irvine about about Lynch Syndrome, a type of inherited cancer syndrome associated with a genetic predisposition to different cancer types, including Colorectal cancer and about various aspects of genetic testing, new technologies, including next generation sequencing technology, and the potential future possibilities and benefits of genetic testing in preventing disease.[1][2] About The Onco'Zine Brief The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. Reference [1] Espenschied CR, LaDuca H, Li S, McFarland R, Gau CL, Hampel H. Multigene Panel Testing Provides a New Perspective on Lynch Syndrome. J Clin Oncol. 2017 Aug 1;35(22):2568-2575. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2016.71.9260. Epub 2017 May 17. PMID: 28514183; PMCID: PMC7186580. [2] Karam R, Conner B, LaDuca H, McGoldrick K, Krempely K, Richardson ME, Zimmermann H, Gutierrez S, Reineke P, Hoang L, Allen K, Yussuf A, Farber-Katz S, Rana HQ, Culver S, Lee J, Nashed S, Toppmeyer D, Collins D, Haynes G, Pesaran T, Dolinsky JS, Tippin Davis B, Elliott A, Chao E. Assessment of Diagnostic Outcomes of RNA Genetic Testing for Hereditary Cancer. JAMA Netw Open. 2019 Oct 2;2(10):e1913900. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.13900. PMID: 31642931; PMCID: PMC6820040. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

Research out earlier this year confirms what many doctors had feared: Cancer screenings dropped significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study, published in the February 2022 edition of Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, examined data from the Ontario Cancer Registry in Canada. The results showed that in March 2020 the week-to-week rate of cancer diagnosis dropped by 34.3%. And this worries doctors, because over the last few decades, the cancer survival rates have improved, in part because of earlier detection of disease. [1] Doctors fear that this disruption to healthcare access may negatively impact early detection of cancers which may lead to serious problems later. Another aspect doctors worry about is that delayed diagnoses and treatments means that in some cases a patient’s diagnoses may not be brought to light until later stages – stage 3 and 4 – when cancer is more difficult to treat. Based on the available data, some experts predict a spike in new cancer diagnosis later this year and in 2023. The main reason, they believe, is pandemic-related, including lockdowns and fears of the coronavirus – which cause COVID-19. In addition to early diagnosis, the pandemic also stalled, delayed, or canceled clinical trials. Based on some estimates, this impacted as many as 60% of all oncology clinical trials and biological therapies in the United States. One big question remains, what are the real implications of stalling or canceling these clinical trials? In this episode of The Onco'Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph,D. talks with Marie E. Lamont, the general manager and chief executive officer of Inteliquet, a company that strives to match patients to clinical trials, accurately and promptly – or, in other words, the company ensures that physicians and their patients have access to the latest and best clinical trials, using decision, making technology developed by the company. About The Onco'Zine Brief The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. Reference [1] Eskander A, Li Q, Yu J, Hallet J, Coburn NG, Dare A, Chan KKW, Singh S, Parmar A, Earle CC, Lapointe-Shaw L, Krzyzanowska MK, Hanna TP, Finelli A, Louie AV, Look Hong N, Irish JC, Witterick IJ, Mahar A, Noel CW, Urbach DR, McIsaac DI, Enepekides D, Sutradhar R. Incident Cancer Detection During the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2022 Feb 1:1-9. doi: 10.6004/jnccn.2021.7114. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35104788. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In the past 30 years, the survival rate for breast cancer has improved by about 40%, one of the highest survival rates of any cancer. The increase in survival is, in part, due to advances in screening technology as well as improvement in cancer treatment and a better understanding of the biology of cancer. All of which have had an impact on survival. In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with talking with Stephen Malamud, MD, who is the regional director of medical oncology at Nuvance Health, a health network with hospitals, medical practices, and care centers located throughout New York’s Hudson Valley and Western Connecticut. Hofland and Malamud talk about some of the results of studies presented during the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held December 7 – 10, 2021 in San Antonio, Texas, and virtually via streaming media. For this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, the producers and editors selected just a few key presentations. In each case, Hofland and Malamud briefly discuss the study as well as how the results may improve the health-related Quality of Life (hrQoL) of patients. They also try to answer if the study results may change the way medicine is practiced. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

Cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the world, and numbers are on the rise. To respond to the growing need for therapeutic solutions, much research is needed. In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Susan Pandya, MD. Pandya is Vice President Clinical Development and Global Head of Cancer Metabolism at Servier Pharmaceuticals. She is also a board-certified Hematologist-Oncologist and a master clinician with a passion for innovation in cancer treatment. In her current role as Vice President of Clinical Development at Servier Pharmaceuticals Pandya is overseeing hematology and oncology clinical development programs. She is involved in developing novel therapeutics in rare oncology indications and is leading teams with the design, planning, and execution of Phase 1 and Phase 3 global pivotal studies. Hofland and Pandya talk about how Servier Pharmaceuticals has made oncology one of the company's foremost priorities and endeavors to become a major player in treatments for cancers that are difficult to treat and for which therapeutic needs are generally not yet met, such as gastrointestinal, hematologic, pancreatic and pediatric cancers. About The Onco'Zine Brief The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland Ph.D. talks with Ellen J. Kim, MD. Kim is the Medical Director of the Dermatology Clinic at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine and Professor of Dermatology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the Lead Principal Investigator for the Phase 3 FLASH (Fluorescent Light Activated Synthetic Hypericin) study in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). This study is the largest multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, skin-directed therapy study in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, to date, enrolling a total of 169 patients. In our program today Hofland and Kim talk about the success of HyBryte™ (previously known as (SGX301); hypericin ointment 0.25%) in the broad cutaneous T-cell lymphoma patient population. HyBryte™, being developed by Soligenix, a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products to treat rare diseases where there is an unmet medical need, is a novel, first-in-class, photodynamic therapy utilizing safe, visible light for activation. The active ingredient in HyBryte™ is synthetic hypericin, a potent photosensitizer that is topically applied to skin lesions that is taken up by the malignant T-cells, and then activated by visible light 16 to 24 hours later. The use of visible light in the red-yellow spectrum has the advantage of penetrating more deeply into the skin (much more so than ultraviolet light) and therefore potentially treating deeper skin disease and thicker plaques and lesions. This treatment approach avoids the risk of secondary malignancies (including melanoma) inherent with the frequently employed DNA-damaging drugs and other types of phototherapy that are dependent on ultraviolet exposure. Combined with photoactivation, hypericin has demonstrated significant anti-proliferative effects on activated normal human lymphoid cells and inhibited the growth of malignant T-cells isolated from CTCL patients. In a published Phase 2 clinical study in CTCL, patients experienced a statistically significant (p=0.04) improvement with topical hypericin treatment whereas the placebo was ineffective. HyBryte™ has received orphan drug and fast track designations from the FDA, as well as an orphan designation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). About The Onco'Zine Brief The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. Reference FLASH [Fluorescent Light Activated Synthetic Hypericin] Clinical Study: Topical SGX301 (Synthetic Hypericin) for the Treatment of Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma (Mycosis Fungoides) - NCT02448381 Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Eyal Talor, Ph.D., a clinical immunologist with over 25 years of hands-on management experience in clinical research and drug development. Talor joined CEL-SCI in October 1993 and was promoted to Chief Scientific Officer in October 2009. CEL-SCI is developing a new immunotherapeutic drug for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune diseases, and infectious diseases. In today’s program, Hofland and Talor are talking about one of these agents, an investigational drug called leukocyte interleukin, or Multikine® Multikine® is currently in late-stage development and is being investigated as a possible new adjuvant therapy for patients diagnosed with head-and-neck cancer and cervical dysplasia. The published results of clinical studies, including a recently concluded Phase 3 study, are very promising in patients diagnosed with head-and-neck cancer. Patients treated with this new anticancer agent in combination with standard of care (SOC) versus standard of care alone had an overall survival benefit of 14.1% at five years. These results exceeded the predefined 10% overall survival benefit set out for the study population as a whole. About The Onco'Zine Brief The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.

In this episode of The Onco’Zine Brief Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Diane Simeone, MD, the Committee Chair and Principal Investigator and Executive Committee Chair of the PRECEDE Consortium. Simeone is also the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Professor of Surgery, Department of Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Professor, Department of Pathology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Director, Pancreatic Cancer Center and Associate Director, Translational Research, Perlmutter Cancer Center. Hofland also talks with Tom Schoenherr, the Chief Executive Officer of Ambry Genetics, one of the participating industry partners of the PRECEDE program. In today’s episode Simeone, Schoenherr, and Hofland talk about Pancreatic Cancer and a new, international collaborative initiative called The Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection or PRECEDE Consortium, which includes more than 35 leading academic medical centers across the globe. The PRECEDE Consortium wants to transform the early detection and prevention of pancreatic cancer, with the aim of increasing the 5-year survival rate from 10 percent today to 50 percent within the next 10 years In addition to academic centers, the PRECEDE Consortium includes industry partners who bring their expertise and resources in genetic testing, pathology, and imaging as well as in information technology to support the program; to determine who is at an elevated risk for developing pancreatic cancer, define that risk, and invite those with a higher risk to participate in a state-of-the-art clinical screening program. The PRECEDE Consortium analyzes and standardizes data curated through an integrated diagnostics platform called LATTICE™, a platform that runs on Amazon Web Services or AWS. LATTICE uses Amazon HealthLake, a HIPAA-eligible service that helps organizations store, transform, query, and analyze health data, and will help researchers and clinicians gain new genomic insights for detecting and preventing pancreatic cancer. About The Onco'Zine Brief The Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit: http://www.oncozine.com to download our Media Kit or visit Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theoncozinebrief to support the program. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine at www.oncozine.com To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.