Continuing with Dr. Ross Camidge as our focus (see yesterday's post for a brief update from him on the afatinib/cetuximab trial), today let's turn to the recent webinar program he and Dr. Ben Solomon did with us on the subject of ALK Inhibition: From Biology to FDA-Approved Therapy for Advanced NSCLC". After Dr.

In a terrific podcast done a year ago about molecular markers in lung cancer and moving beyond a "one size fits all approach", Dr.

The Importance of Identifying Molecular Markers in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer To understand the importance of molecular markers in the current and future treatment of lung cancer, one should first understand how lung cancer was classified up until the beginning of this decade. Pathologists would look at a sample of a patient's lung tumor under a microscope, and then make a judgment of whether the cells represented small cell lung cancer (SCLC) or non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Introduction to Molecular Markers

Our practice in managing advanced NSCLC has been evolving rapidly as new studies emerge highlighting the importance of molecular markers in guiding treatment decisions and leave open questions about how to optimize the sequence of treatments from first line to second line, who to observe and who to recommend for maintenance therapy. And if maintenance therapy, what treatment to recommend?

Though I didn't make it to the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting in mid-April, I did catch discussion that followed presentation of some preliminary data from the Biomarker-integrated Approaches of Targeted Therapy for Lung Cancer Elimination (BATTLE) trial, conducted at MD Anderson Cancer Center over the last several years. My friend and colleague, Dr. Ed Kim, presented the provocative early results. The study enrolled 255 patients with previously treated advanced NSCLC who had previously received a median of two prior lines of therapy.

Here's the podcast of the Q&A portion of the excellent webinar with Dr. Pennell on Molecular Markers in Management of NSCLC.

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dr-pennell-molecular-markers-qa-audio-podcast

Last week, Dr. Ross Camidge from the University of Colorado joined me on a webinar entitled "One Size Does Not Fit All" in which he discussed the early work on ALK rearrangements and the novel agent PF-02341066 (now known as crizotinib) in particular, and the new era of molecularly defined practice of oncology in particular. This story has been widely considered to be among the most important in the field of lung cancer over the last few years, and Dr. Camidge did not disappoint.

This is the last part of my discussion with Dr. Matthew Horton, a pathologist with a special training and a great expertise in lung pathology who works here in Seattle at a company called CellNetix.

We focus in this last one on the increasing focus on molecular markers in making clinical decisions and how this is changing the relationship of pathologists with oncologists, as well as the need for pathologists to provide this information in a timely way.

We know that many people interested in the topics we discuss in our webinars may not be able to attend the live programs, but we're committed to offering our content to people as easily as possible. Accordingly, here is the podcast version of Dr. Pennell's very well received presentation on a range of molecular markers currently being used and others emerging in clinical trials as potential tools for the coming years.

Below you'll find the audio versions of the presentation.