Plumbing the Core and Nibbling at the Margins of Cancer

Cancer Commons Editor in Chief George Lundberg, MD, is the face and curator of this invitation-only column

  • November 21, 2023  

    High-Energy Blue Light Powers a Promising New Treatment to Destroy Cancer Cells

    With: Stuart L. Marcus, MD, PhD

    A perennial challenge in cancer treatment is figuring out how to kill tumor cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed. Our Curious Dr. George asks Stuart L. Marcus, MD, PhD, founder and Chief Science Officer at SonALAsense, how his company’s light-activated drug treatment addresses this challenge, holding potential promise for people with brain, bladder, and possibly other cancers. Curious Dr. George: Your flagship treatment employs… Read more »

  • November 17, 2023  

    Integrating AI-Generated Learning Materials into Health Professional Education

    With: Miriam Chickering

    Artificial intelligence (A.I.) is a powerful tool that has made its way into diverse fields—and medical education is no exception. Our Curious Dr. George asks Miriam Chickering, RN, BSN, NE-BC, CEO of NextGenU.org, how the 22-year-old, U.S.-based organization she leads uses A.I. to help create free educational materials for healthcare professionals and students. Curious Dr. George: NextGenU.org provides teaching materials and curricula in a… Read more »

  • October 24, 2023  

    How Would an Expert Manage His Own Acute Myelogenous Leukemia?

    With: Adam Asch, MD

    When facing a frightening new cancer diagnosis, some people ask their doctors, “What would you do if you were me?” Here, our Curious Dr. George asks leukemia expert Adam Asch, MD, how he would handle his own case of acute myelogenous leukemia. Dr. Asch is Professor of Medicine and Nancy Johnson Records Chair of Oncology at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. Curious… Read more »

  • September 5, 2023  

    How Would an Expert Manage His Own Advanced Esophageal Cancer?

    With: Sarbajit Mukherjee, MD, MS

    When facing a frightening new cancer diagnosis, some people ask their doctors, “What would you do if you were me?” Here, our Curious Dr. George asks gastrointestinal cancer expert Sarbajit Mukherjee, MD, MS, how he would handle his own case of advanced esophageal cancer. Dr. Mukherjee is Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine—GI Medical Oncology and Co-Leader of the GI Translational Research Group… Read more »

  • August 18, 2023  

    Alibrex: A New Blood Test to Reveal Whether a Cancer Treatment is Working

    With: Kevin Knopf, MD, MPH

    In cancer treatment, time is of the essence. Our Curious Dr. George asks Kevin B. Knopf, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer at Cadex Genomics, how his company’s new test, Alibrex, could rapidly reveal how well a given treatment is working for a given patient. Curious Dr. George: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved about 270 anti-cancer drugs. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network… Read more »

  • August 11, 2023  

    Common Sense Oncology: Moving Back Towards Outcomes that Matter

    With: Christopher M. Booth, MD, FRCPC

    There are many ways to measure how well a particular cancer treatment works. But how much do these outcomes reflect a patient’s actual wellbeing? Our Curious Dr. George asks Christopher M. Booth, MD, FRCPC, one of the founding leaders of the new international initiative “Common Sense Oncology” (CSO), how CSO is working to improve patient outcomes. Curious Dr. George: The practice of clinical oncology… Read more »

  • June 30, 2023  

    PARIS Test Uses Lab-Grown Mini-Tumors to Find a Patient’s Best Treatment

    With: Carla Grandori, MD, PhD

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved hundreds of drugs for the treatment of cancer. However, some approved drugs are more effective for certain patients than others. Our curious Dr. George asks Carla Grandori, MD, PhD, Founder and CEO of SEngine Precision Medicine, about her company’s test to detect which drugs are likely to be most effective for a given patient’s solid tumor.… Read more »

  • May 20, 2023  

    How Would an Expert Manage His Own Advanced Bladder Cancer?

    With: Daniel E.C. Fein, MD

    When facing a frightening new cancer diagnosis, some people ask their doctors, “What would you do if you were me?” Here, our Curious Dr. George asks Daniel E.C. Fein, MD, how he would handle his own case of advanced bladder cancer. Dr. Fein is a genitourinary oncologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, MA, as well as an Instructor in Medicine… Read more »

  • March 16, 2023  

    A New Biomarker to Optimize Immunotherapy for People with Cancer

    With: Scott Tomlins, MD, PhD

    Immunotherapy—a type of treatment that harnesses a patient’s own immune system to fight cancer—has been a “game changer” for many patients. It can be difficult, however, to predict whether or not a given person would benefit from immunotherapy, especially when it comes to drugs that target the immune system molecules PD-1 and PD-L1. Our Curious Dr. George asks Scott Tomlins, MD, PhD, Co-founder and… Read more »

  • March 7, 2023  

    Learnings from Pilot Study: Creating Treatment Templates to Serve More Glioblastoma Patients

    With: Adrienne Nugent, PhD

    A recent pilot study between Cancer Commons and the Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor Research & Information is identifying patterns that are being translated into treatment templates to better serve a larger group of GBM patients. Our Curious Dr. George asks Cancer Commons Scientist Adrienne Nugent, PhD, to discuss key factors that point to the best courses of action a patient might take, and about the clinical… Read more »