Oncology Times - Ot Broadcasts From The Ipad Archives

In this episode of OncTimes Talk, we chat with Tom Hulsey—athlete, author, and prostate cancer survivor—about the life-altering moment he received his diagnosis on his birthday, and how it set him on a path of resilience, advocacy, and renewed purpose. Tom opens up about the emotional toll of staying silent, the power of mindset in healing, and how facing both cancer and heart disease reshaped his outlook on life. He also shares insights from his work with medical research programs and offers powerful advice for men navigating their own health journeys. This is a conversation about vulnerability, strength, and the will to turn pain into purpose.

In this third episode of the OncoExTra® podcast series, host Ruchika Talwar, MD, talks with Christy Russell, MD, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Exact Sciences, about what oncologists can expect when they receive their OncoExTra comprehensive genomic profiling test results, and how they can utilize the report and tap into Exact Sciences' skilled support team to develop a plan of action for their patients.

In this episode of OncTimes Talk, we chat with Sami Mansfield, ACSM-CET, PN1, the founder of Cancer Wellness for Life, an organization dedicated to developing, implementing, and optimizing exercise oncology and lifestyle medicine programs and resources for hospitals, healthcare organizations, pharmaceutical companies, nonprofits, and individuals impacted by cancer. cancerwellnessforlife.com

In this episode of OncTimes Talk, we chat with Katie Coleman. Diagnosed with an ultra-rare stage IV kidney cancer in 2020, her prognosis had a chance to significantly change after six months. Since then, Katie has since become an Author, founded a non-profit organization, and has become a podcast host—all with the goal of giving back to cancer research.   Katiekickscancer.com

In this podcast episode, host Ruchika Talwar, MD, is joined by Amin Mazloom, PhD, Senior Vice President of Bioinformatics, Biostatistics & Data Innovation, and Janine LoBello, DO, Senior Clinical Laboratory Medical Director at Exact Sciences to discuss patient-matched tumor-normal (PMTN) sequencing and why it matters for oncologists. Drs. Mazloom and LoBello discuss PMTN sequencing as a gold standard method for calculating tumor mutational burden and personalized therapy selection and share their thoughts on the future of cancer testing.

In this episode, Dr. Ruchika Talwar, a urologic oncologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Dr. Adham Jurdi, a medical oncologist and Senior Director of Oncology at Natera, delve into the groundbreaking world of tumor-informed molecular residual disease testing. Discover how circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is revolutionizing cancer detection and treatment, providing real-time insights that surpass traditional imaging methods. Learn about the decades-long journey to perfect this technology, its clinical implications, and the exciting advancements on the horizon.

In this episode of the OncTimes Talk, we chat with Susan MacDonald, MD, Associate Professor and Program Director of the Department of Urology at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, in Hershey, PA. MacDonald shares her inspiring journey of facing a life-changing diagnosis with strength and resilience. Discover her insights into the healthcare system, the unexpected joys she found, and her advice for others facing similar challenges.

Masood Moghul, MBBS, a urologist and Research Fellow at the Royal Marsden Hospital and Institute of Cancer Research in London shared findings from a study investigating a mobile, targeted, case-finding approach to prostate cancer detection with 3,379 patients.   Moghul told the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco how the study addressed health inequalities and barriers to accessing health care that affect prostate cancer in high-risk underserved groups.

At the 2025 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, researchers from Japan reported marked differences between the populations of several key microbial species in the gut microbiomes of patients with metastatic prostate cancer that distinguished them from those with non-metastatic disease. This was in the PROMISE-JAPAN study with 869 Japanese patients.   After talking about his group’s new data, lead researcher Koji Hatano, MD, a urologist from Osaka University in Japan, discussed the insights this has given doctors into the metastatic process and potential ways of modifying it.

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A numerical formula called the absolute percentage pattern 4/5 (APP4) combining risk factors, including Gleason grade, PSA, and digital rectal examination, is being used to select patients whose intermediate risk prostate cancer can safely be followed with active surveillance.   A research study using APP4 was reported at the 2025 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco. First author Ruben Del Castillo, MD, a radiation oncologist from the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada, shared the details.

Masood Moghul, MBBS, a urologist and research fellow at the Royal Marsden Hospital and Institute of Cancer Research in London, UK, discussed his group’s findings from the Man Van study investigating a mobile, targeted, case-finding approach to prostate cancer detection with 3,379 patients conducted in Greater London.   Moghul told the 2025 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco how the study had addressed health inequalities and barriers to accessing health care that affect prostate cancer in high-risk underserved groups.

In the third episode of A Deep Dive Into HRD Testing in Ovarian Cancer, a three-part podcast series sponsored by AstraZeneca, we’re speaking with Dr. David O’Malley, and Bobbie R, an ovarian cancer patient. Dr. O’Malley will highlight how HRD testing empowers ovarian cancer patients to make more informed decisions with their doctors to help guide their treatment journey, and Bobbie will provide insight into her experience with HRD testing.   Dr. David O’Malley is a professor in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and the director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at the OSUCCC – James.   Bobbie is a stage 3C ovarian cancer patient who lives in Rochester, New York. Bobbie is an animal rights activist, vegetarian, and exerciser who recently retired from the healthcare field, having worked as a registered nurse and owner of a healthcare staffing firm. Following her diagnosis in July of 2021, Bobbie participated

In the second episode of A Deep Dive into HRD Testing in Ovarian Cancer, a three-part podcast series sponsored by AstraZeneca, we’re speaking with Dr. Erin Crane who will highlight how HRD testing provides helpful information to ovarian cancer patients.   Erin K. Crane, MD, MPH, is a gynecologic oncologist with Atrium Health Levine Cancer in Charlotte, North Carolina. A graduate of the SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY, Dr. Crane completed her residency at the University of Virginia and a fellowship at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Gynecologic Oncology. She is board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Gynecologic Oncology and Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Crane is a Clinical Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.   For more information, visit https://www.azprecisionmed.com/tumor-type/ovarian-cancer/hrd-testing.html For patient resources, please visit TestForHR

In the first episode of A Deep Dive into HRD Testing in Ovarian Cancer, a three-part podcast series sponsored by AstraZeneca, we’re speaking with Dr. Kathleen Moore about HRD testing in ovarian cancer and its clinical significance in helping aid precision medicine approaches.   Dr. Kathleen Moore is a Professor of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Associate Director of Clinical Research and Director of the Oklahoma TSET Phase I Program at the Stephenson Cancer Center. A graduate of the University of Washington School of Medicine, WA, Dr. Moore completed her residency in gynecology at the University Health Center of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, PA and completed a fellowship in gynecologic oncology at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in Oklahoma City, OK. She is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology as well as gynecologic oncology and hospice and palliative care.   For more information, visit: https://www.azprecisionmed.com/tumor-type/ov

The pivotal role of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) checkpoint inhibition for treating advanced melanoma has been confirmed in findings from the KEYNOTE-006 study comparing the anti-PD-L1 antibody pembrolizumab immunotherapy with the anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) drug ipilimumab for treating patients with unresectable advanced or metastatic melanoma. Results from the study were reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2024 Annual Congress, held in Barcelona, Spain.

Although one in five colorectal cancers having microsatellite instability and expressing the Werner Helicase (WRN) gene could be treated with drugs that inhibit WRN, the effectiveness of such an approach has been limited by resistance. However, researchers identified the Cys727 mutation as being solely responsible for WRN inhibitor resistance. This potentially opens the door to using WRN inhibitors in the cancer clinic by inactivating this resistance gene.   At the EORTC-NCI-AACR 2024 Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics Symposium Gabriele Picco, PhD, Senior Staff Scientist in the Translational Cancer Genomics Team at the Wellcome Sanger Institute’s Genome Campus, reported findings about WRN resistance mechanisms that may clear the path to introducing WRN inhibitors to the cancer clinic to fight microsatellite unstable cancers. 

A tumor-agnostic classifier and screening tool was announced at ESMO Congress 2024 in Barcelona. It was created to make it easier and quicker to develop new drugs that have specific molecular targets, and thus have potential anti-cancer efficacy irrespective of tumor type or location. The ESMO Tumour-Agnostic Classifier and Screener was the result of work by a multidisciplinary team of international experts led by the ESMO Precision Medicine Working Group. At the conference, Benedikt Westphalen, MD, a medical oncologist and molecular biologist who is Head of the Precision Oncology Program at the University of Munich in Germany, talked about the details with Oncology Times correspondent Peter Goodwin.

Findings from a study of patients receiving targeted therapy for their BRAFV600 mutation-positive advanced melanoma, suggest that switching early to immune checkpoint inhibition appeared to bring better rates of overall survival than saving immunotherapy for use as salvage treatment later on. The ESMO 2024 Annual Congress heard from the randomized Phase II ImmunoCobiVem trial that a switch to immunotherapy after only 3 months treatment with drugs targeted to the mutation gave equivalent or better survival than continuing with targeted therapy.

The pivotal role of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) checkpoint inhibition for treating advanced melanoma has been confirmed in findings from the KEYNOTE-006 study comparing the anti-PD-L1 antibody pembrolizumab immunotherapy with the anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) drug ipilimumab for treating patients with unresectable advanced or metastatic melanoma. Results from the study were reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2024 Annual Congress, held in Barcelona, Spain.