Interviews with Summit Director Edgardo S. Santos Castillero, MD, FACP, FASCO NOSCM 2024 | New Orleans Summer Cancer Meeting NOSCM-071924 - Dr E.dgardo S. Santos with Dr Ahmed Zakari InterviewDrs. Santos and Zakari highlighted that tumor-informed ctDNA testing in oligometastatic colorectal cancer can detect minimal residual disease—helping identify patients unlikely to benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy—with repeat assays raising sensitivity to 80–85%. They also noted ASCO’s recent preference for fluorouracil in upper GI adenocarcinomas and underscored ctDNA’s prognostic value in the GALAXY trial.
Interviews with Summit Director Edgardo S. Santos Castillero, MD, FACP, FASCONOSCM 2024 | New Orleans Summer Cancer MeetingNOSCMDr. Edgardo Santos' Interview with Sanjiv Agarwala, MD, FASCODr. Sanjeev Agarwalareviewed advances in melanoma therapy, highlighting promising phase II results combining RNA-based vaccines with pembrolizumab, which enhanced anti-tumor response without added toxicity. He noted that dual LAG-3/PD-1 blockade offersefficacy comparable to ipilimumab/nivolumab but with a more favorable safety profile and neoadjuvant ipilimumab for stage III melanoma, which may obviate the need for additional post-surgical treatments.
Interviews with Summit Director Edgardo S. Santos Castillero, MD, FACP, FASCO NOSCM 2024 | New Orleans Summer Cancer MeetingDr. Edgardo Santos' Interview with Pasquale W. Benedetto, MDDr. Benedetto underscored that maintaining dose intensity and following biomarkers are critical to preventing relapses in rare testicular cancer, recommending sperm banking before treatment and annual post-treatment follow-ups. He alsoreassured that most patients can preserve fertility and achieve normal lifespans with experienced, guideline-driven care.
Interviews with Summit Director Edgardo S. Santos Castillero, MD, FACP, FASCONOSCM 2024 | New Orleans Summer Cancer MeetingDr. Edgardo Santos' Interview with Mark Matrana, MD, MS, FACPDr. Matrana highlighted two new gene‐based therapies foradvanced bladder cancer—a non-replicating adenovirus delivering interleukin and a replicating virus combined with pembrolizumab—and noted that the Afrin + pembrolizumab regimen outperformed chemotherapy in metastatic urothelial carcinoma, albeit with toxicities like neuropathy, ocular issues, hyperglycemia, and rash. He also pointed to upcoming strategies pairing immunotherapy with chemotherapy and using circulating tumor DNA to guide monitoring and treatment adjustments.
Interviews withSummit Director Edgardo S. Santos Castillero, MD, FACP, FASCO at NOSCM at 2024 | New Orleans Summer Cancer MeetingDr. Edgardo Santos' Interview with Toni Choueiri, MDDr. Choueiri highlighted pembrolizumab as the first adjuvant immunotherapy approved for intermediate-high and high-risk kidney cancer—demonstrating overall survival benefits—and confirmed that first-line nivolumab plus ipilimumab improves outcomes, whereas PD-1 rechallenge after progression is unsupported. He also presented HIF-2 inhibitors like belzutifan, which have shown notable progression-free survival gains in phase 3 trials.
Interviews with Summit Director Edgardo S. Santos Castillero, MD, FACP, FASCONOSCM 2024 | New Orleans SummerCancer MeetingDr. Edgardo Santos' Interview with Daniel Petrylak, MDDr. Petrylak, an international expert on prostate cancer, noted that microsatellite instability occurs in roughly 2% of prostate cancers—making those patients pembrolizumab‐eligible—and championed the use of doublet or triplet regimens in de novo metastatic, hormone‐sensitive disease to markedly improve overall survival. For castration‐resistant disease, he recommended routine DNA repair mutation profiling and PSMA PET imaging—from high-risk localized cases to asymptomatic relapse—and to guide lutetium-177 PSMA therapy.
Interviews with Summit Director Edgardo S. Santos Castillero, MD, FACP, FASCONOSCM 2024 | New Orleans SummerCancer MeetingDr. Edgardo Santos' Interview with Richard Kim, MDDr. Kim reported that the ESO-EFFECT trial demonstratedsuperior survival and progression-free outcomes with a perioperative chemo-fluid regimen versus neoadjuvant chemo-radiation in resectable esophageal cancer, though definitive data on adjuvant immunotherapy are still lacking. For gastric cancer, he highlighted FDA approval of the HER2-targeted ADC trastuzumab deruxtecan and emerging targets like Claudin 18.2 and FGFR2B, as well as the START study exploring chemo-immunotherapy-anti-TIGIT combinations in patients with CPS >1.
Interviews with Summit Director Edgardo S. Santos Castillero, MD, FACP, FASCONOSCM 2024 | New Orleans SummerCancer MeetingDr. Edgardo Santos' Interview with Mitesh Borad, MDDr. Borad highlighted that RMC-6236’s targeting of KRASin refractory pancreatic cancer achieved 90% disease control and an 8-month median PFS, while cholangiocarcinoma now benefits from IDH and FGFR inhibitors and promising HER2-targeted antibodies (zanidatamab, trastuzumab). In HCC, dualcheckpoint blockade with ipilimumab plus nivolumab has delivered over 30% response rates and 30–40% two- to three-year survival, underscoring the impact of precision and immunotherapy across these malignancies.
Interviews with Summit Director Edgardo S. Santos Castillero, MD, FACP, FASCO at NOSCM 2024 | New Orleans SummerCancer MeetingDr. Edgardo Santos' Interview with Mariana Chavez-McGregor, MD, MSc, FASCODr. Chavez-McGregor discusses endocrine and targeted therapies for hormone-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer patients highlighting the importance of individualized therapy due to new drugs and evolving algorithms. She notes the challenge of sequencing treatments, as clinical trials often compare drugs in isolation, while patients receive treatments sequentially. Additionally, she discusses the early use of new molecules in high-risk early-stage breast cancer and the need for further research to address these complexities.
Interviews with Summit Director Edgardo S. Santos Castillero, MD, FACP, FASCONOSCM 2024 | New Orleans Summer Cancer MeetingDr. Edgardo Santos' Group Interview with Heather McArthur, MD, MPH | Lajos Pusztai, MD, DPhil, FASCO | Mark Pegram, MDDr. Edgardo Santos and his colleagues discussed recent advancements in breast cancer treatment. Dr. Heather McArthur highlighted the complex landscape of immunotherapy, particularly in triple-negative breast cancer, noting the FDA's approval of pembrolizumab. Dr. Lajos Pusztai emphasized the potential of pathologic complete response (PCR) as an accelerated approval endpoint and the shift towards new adjuvant therapies. Dr. Mark Pegram discussed the integration of novel therapies like CDK4/6 inhibitors and pertuzumab, noting the challenges of cost and access. The panel also addressed the broader challenges of insurance approval and the feasibility of new, expensive treatments.
Interviews with Summit Director Edgardo S. Santos Castillero, MD, FACP, FASCONOSCM 2024 | New Orleans Summer Cancer MeetingDr. Edgardo Santos' Interview with Heinz-Josef Lenz,MDDr. Heinz-Josef Lenz stressed that in metastatic colorectal cancer, initiating treatment with the most potent regimen is key to preventing cross-resistance, using NGS panels and liquid biopsies for rapid biomarker identification. For early-stage disease, he employs genomic signature tests and methylation analyses to predict recurrence—monitoring patients every three months for the first two years—and advocates for more sensitive assays like circulating ethylation to enhance detection.
Interviews with Summit Director Edgardo S. Santos Castillero, MD, FACP, FASCONOSCM 2024 | New Orleans Summer Cancer MeetingDr. Edgardo Santos' Interview with Hope Rugo, MD Dr. Santos discussed the breast cancer session that Dr. Rugo curated addressing current controversies and innovations—highlighting how antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) like those in the DESTINY Breast 06 trial are effective even at very low HER2 expression—and exploring the promise of combining ADCs with immunotherapy to broaden treatment options across HER2-positive, hormone-receptor-negative, and triple-negative subtypes.
Interviews with Summit Director Edgardo S. Santos Castillero, MD, FACP, FASCONOSCM 2024 | New Orleans Summer Cancer MeetingDr. Edgardo Santos' Interview with Jonathan Riess, MD, MSDr. Riess highlighted that first-line osimertinib significantly prolongs progression-free survival in EGFR-mutant metastatic lung cancer, and the FLORA-2 study suggests adding chemotherapy may further improve overall survival, with circulating tumor DNA serving as a key marker for treatment intensification. Dr. Santos underscored the necessity of broad genetic profiling—including liquid biopsies—to personalize therapy based on high-risk factors like brain metastases and co-mutations, and anticipates next-generation EGFR inhibitors will further enhance outcomes.
Interviews with Summit Director Hope Rugo, MD MaTOS Breast 2025 | Masters in Therapeutic Oncology Summit | Breast EditionDr Hope Rugo's Interview with Luis E. Raez, MDDr. Hope Rugo and Dr. Luis Raez discussed the inaugural MaTOS Breast meeting’s interactive format, where expert faculty and junior clinicians debated complex breast-cancer cases alongside industry partners in small-group settings. Sessions covered cutting-edge topics—ctDNA, antibody–drug conjugates, novel endocrine and targeted agents—and included intimate advisory boards that shaped future trials and collaborations. Both speakers highlighted the meeting’s success in sparking new research ideas and pledged to refine the model and deepen engagement with pharma collaborators for upcoming MaTOS Breastprograms.
Interviews with Summit Director Hope Rugo, MD MaTOS Breast 2025 | Masters in Therapeutic Oncology Summit | Breast EditionDr. Hope Rugo interviews key note speaker, Dr. Dennis Slamon, a pioneer in breast cancer treatment, about his groundbreaking work on HER2-positive breast cancer. Slamon discusses the development of trastuzumab, which transformed HER2 from a poor to a favorable prognosis, and the challenges of next-generation HER2 therapies due to off-target effects. He also highlights the success of CDK4/6 inhibitors in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, noting improvements in safety through dose reduction. Slamon's ongoing research involves identifying new targets using advanced platforms, aiming to continue revolutionizing breast cancer treatment.
Risk Factors for Pancreatic Cancer, Why is the Incidence Increasing? Speaker: Mike Cusnir, MD | Mount Sinai Medical Center Hepatopancreaticobiliary Malignancy – Part I Presented at SFGI - South Florida GI Cancer SymposiumDr. Cusnir discusses focuses on the rising incidence of pancreatic cancer, highlighting a 300% increase since 1950 and 51,000 cases expected this year. Key risk factors include obesity, new-onset diabetes, chronic pancreatitis, and smoking. Greater emphasis is needed on better screening, especially in high-risk populations, and dietary changes to reduce risk, as diet-related cancers now surpass smoking-related cancers.
Role of Immunotherapy in MSI High Colorectal Cancer Speaker: Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD | University of Southern California Colorectal Cancer| Part II Presented at SFGI - South Florida GI Cancer SymposiumDr. Lenz shares key insights on MSI-high colorectal cancer to include how early immunotherapy improves outcomes, tumor location and TMB matter, and combo therapies show strong survival benefits. Ethnicity may influence response—personalized treatment is the future.
Current Genetics of Hereditary Colon Cancer SyndromesSpeaker: Fay Kastrinos, MD | Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center | Columbia University Colorectal Cancer | Part I Presented at SFGI - South Florida GI Cancer SymposiumDr. Kastrinos provides an overview of hereditary colorectal cancer syndromes, highlighting Lynch syndrome and polyposis syndromes, their high cancer risks, and current screening recommendations. Promising prevention strategies include aspirin and immunomodulators, while non-invasive tests like multi-cancer early detection (MCED) are in development but face cost and efficacy challenges.
Esophageal Cancer | Part I Presented at SFGI - South Florida GI Cancer SymposiumKeynote Lecture:Hereditary GI Cancer Genetics Speaker: Fay Kastrinos, MD | Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center | Columbia UniversityDr. Kastrinos highlights emerging strategies in genetic testing for GI cancers, emphasizing Lynch syndrome, multi-gene panels, and population-based approaches to improve early detection and prevention.
Presented at PRIMO 2025 | Practical Recommendations in Immuno & Molecular OncologyThe Changing Face of Cancer Therapeutics Session Chair: Sanjiv S. Agarwala, MD FASCOThe Role of Social Media in Oncology Moderator: Don Dizon, MD, FACP, FASCOPanel: Sanjiv Agarwala, MD, FASCO | Sanjay Juneja, MD | Luis E. Raez, MD, FACP, FASCOThe discussion explored AI’s role in oncology, spotlightingTexas Oncology’s ambient learning and AI’s promise to boost diagnostics anddecision-making. Panelists stressed combining AI with traditional methods forbetter outcomes. They also highlighted social media’s power to empower patientsand expand access, especially for minority and rural groups, while urging itsintentional, professional use to build trust and support communication.