Expert Interviews

The most common toxicity associated with TAS-102 was neutropenia, with grade 3 events occurring in 73.3% of patients with colorectal cancer.

Blood-based markers of note in kidney cancer prognosis include circulating tumor DNA and proteomic markers, according to Michael B. Atkins, MD.

“…I like TAS-102 as an agent, but we need better drugs than we have right now to clear ctDNA and cure patients,” said Hornstein, MD, PhD.

An expert highlights that outpatient step-up dosing of bispecific antibody therapy in multiple myeloma is feasible and beneficial for selected patients—with criteria like caregiver support, proximity to care, and low disease burden—supported by prophylactic measures and close monitoring to ensure safety while improving patient comfort and reducing health care costs.

The phase 2 INTERCEPT-TT trial showed that TAS-102 induced ctDNA clearance following adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with colorectal cancer.

Clinical trials still have a role in improving outcomes with immunotherapy among those with kidney cancer.

Panelists discuss how the CheckMate 214 study demonstrated durable overall survival benefits with ipilimumab plus nivolumab vs sunitinib, with 9-year follow-up showing improved outcomes even in favorable-risk patients and nearly half of responders remaining in remission.

Panelists discuss how clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) represents the most common kidney cancer subtype, typically affecting men in their 50s and 60s who often present incidentally with metastatic disease, and has limited identifiable risk factors beyond smoking, hypertension, and obesity.

Panelists discuss the shift toward a more personalized approach in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) management, highlighting the evolving role of risk stratification, the renewed interest in immune checkpoint inhibitors for favorable-risk patients, and the strategic integration of systemic therapy, active surveillance, and surgical interventions to optimize long-term outcomes.

Panelists discuss current strategies for first-line treatment sequencing in renal cell carcinoma (RCC), emphasizing immunotherapy-based combinations tailored to disease burden and patient characteristics, while highlighting the importance of multidisciplinary care, real-world experience, and clinical trial data in guiding personalized, patient-centered decisions.

Panelists discuss how to manage borderline transaminase elevations in a patient benefiting from voracidinib therapy, balancing the risk of mild liver toxicity against continued disease control while investigating potential contributing factors.

Current research initiatives in the kidney cancer field include exploring anti–PD-1, anti–LAG-3, and anti–CTLA-4 combination regimens.

Boris M. Kiselev, MD, provides practical advice for oncology clinicians on how to approach and initiate conversations about a patient’s mental and emotional well-being.

Boris M. Kiselev, MD, explores evidence-based interventions for managing cancer-related anxiety and depression.

Experts discuss how postoperative surveillance after colorectal cancer surgery is increasingly personalized by integrating pathologic staging, surgical quality, and ctDNA testing to adjust monitoring intensity, with higher-risk or uncertain cases receiving more aggressive follow-up to optimize early detection and intervention.

Panelists discuss how current chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T therapies for early relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (R/R MM) include both ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel) and idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel), both targeting the B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA), with cilta-cel showing superior outcomes in second-line patients compared with ide-cel’s performance in third- and fourth-line settings. They also emphasize that regardless of which CAR T is used, both significantly outperform standard-of-care treatments. Looking toward the future, emerging CAR T therapies are targeting new antigens like GPRC5D on myeloma cells, with phase 2 clinical trials already enrolling patients whose disease returned after initial CAR T treatment, offering hope for sequential CAR T approaches as the field moves toward increasingly immunotherapy-focused treatment strategies.

Panelists discuss how the CARTITUDE-4 clinical trial demonstrated that ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel) chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy significantly outperformed standard-of-care treatments in patients with early relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (R/R MM), showing higher response rates, complete remission rates, and deeper minimal residual disease (MRD)-negative remissions while also providing superior quality of life with treatment breaks vs continuous therapy requirements, and, most importantly, becoming the first therapy in this patient population to demonstrate improved overall survival and actually prolong life.

Experts discuss the pivotal role of ctDNA in postoperative colorectal cancer care, using it alongside pathology and staging to personalize recurrence risk assessment and guide adjuvant therapy decisions, particularly in nuanced cases where ctDNA results and clinical risk factors may not align.

Boris M. Kiselev, MD, discusses the essential role of psycho-oncology in addressing patient distress, improving treatment adherence, and supporting long-term survivorship.