Oncology News Central Peer-Spectives

The prospective randomized NHS-Galleri multicancer early detection trial didn’t meet its primary endpoint, but it did uncover a lot more early-stage cancers than predicted. Eric Klein, MD, and Robert Figlin, MD, talk about what the data reveal about cancer biology and for screening programs.

New treatments for patients with microsatellite instability–high colorectal cancer are drastically changing outcomes. Nicholas James Hornstein, MD, PhD, discusses recent advances and key findings from the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting with Carolina Bernabe Ramirez, MD

The artificial sweetener sucralose may impair the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy, according to a recent study published in Science. Although further research is needed before these findings can be translated into actionable information for patients, the investigation highlights that “the science of nutrition in cancer is actually quite poor,” says senior author Diwakar Davar, MD, associate professor and clinical director of the melanoma and skin cancer program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Hillman Cancer Center in Pennsylvania. Dr. Daver shared why he and his colleagues chose to explore the potential effects of sucralose on cancer treatment, and what research is next, with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the interim director of Cedars-Sinai Cancer in Los Angeles and Steven Spielberg Family Chair. “What I think we are hoping to try to do is actually just kickstart a movement to get people to focus on nutrition,” Dr. Daver explained. “We spend $1 billion to try to get a hazard ratio of 0.8, and here it appears that if you eat just a little less of this, you can maybe double your likelihoods of success.” Dr. Davar reported various financial relationships. Dr. Figlin reported various financial relationships.

The development of oral selective estrogen receptor degraders (SERDs) represents substantial progress for patients with metastatic breast cancer who have ESR1 mutations. “I’m extremely excited because they’re the most effective form of endocrine therapy today,” says Wassim Mchayleh, MD, MBA, the clinical program director of the breast cancer program at AdventHealth Cancer Institute and associate professor of medicine at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. He spoke with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the interim director of Cedars-Sinai Cancer in Los Angeles and Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology about SERDs that are currently available and those in development. When it comes to weighing toxicity, “across the board, they are very well-tolerated endocrine therapies with a very low discontinuation rate,” Dr. Mchayleh noted. In addition to recent key clinical trial results, he also looked ahead to what data may help establish the drug class as a replacement for the current standard of care. Dr. Mchayleh reported various financial relationships. Dr. Figlin reported various financial relationships.

Results from the phase 3 ATOMIC trial are practice changing for colorectal cancer care and raise broader questions about immunotherapy use in patients with mismatch repair deficiencies across tumor types. Frank A. Sinicrope, MD, a professor of oncology and medicine at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center in Rochester, Minnesota, presented the findings at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. He discussed the significance of the ATOMIC results and next steps with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the interim director of Cedars-Sinai Cancer in Los Angeles and Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology. “I think that microsatellite instability is a terrific predictive biomarker for immunotherapy, and all of these patients should get immunotherapy in some form or another,” Dr. Sinicrope noted.

“For the first 15 years of my career, we had nothing new” in bladder cancer care, said Jonathan E. Rosenberg, MD, chief of the genitourinary oncology service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Now, “the pace of change has been dizzying,” he told Robert A. Figlin, MD, the interim director of Cedars-Sinai Cancer in Los Angeles and Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology. Speaking at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, Dr. Rosenberg discussed key studies that have recently changed practice and what questions still remain. For certain laboratory testing and other concerns, “it’s a bit of the Wild West right now,” he noted.

From digitizing its guidelines to potential embedding them in EMRs, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is working to “make the workflow easier and better” for oncologists, Crystal S. Denlinger, MD, FACP, CEO of the NCCN, told Robert A. Figlin, MD, the interim director of Cedars-Sinai Cancer in Los Angeles and Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology, at this year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. Dr. Denlinger broke down the organization’s current priorities and key initiatives, including how the network is tackling preauthorization challenges and helping to educate clinicians about changes to best practices. She notes that initiatives to ensure NCCN guidelines are available, useful, and up to date are crucial because “I truly believe that guideline-concordant care is one of the ways in which we can cure cancer.”

A late-breaking abstract presented at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting (LBA3) showed that rusfertide significantly increased hematocrit control and improved symptoms for patients with polycythemia vera, a chronic leukemia. “We thought if we could use our understanding of iron regulation, then we could change the game a little bit,” said Andrew Kuykendall, MD, assistant member in the Department of Malignant Hematology at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. He told Robert A. Figlin, MD, the interim director of Cedars-Sinai Cancer in Los Angeles and Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology, about the rationale behind the trial, broke down key findings, and shared what comes next in this area of research. “I think it is very important that we continue to follow these patients. And this is an ongoing trial that has a part two to it, which is a long-term safety assessment period,” he explained.