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

  • 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 »

  • January 28, 2023  

    Using Live Cells from Patients to Find the Right Cancer Drug

    With: Clifford A. Reid, PhD

    Today, many cancer patients benefit from targeted drugs that are matched to the distinct genetic mutations found in their tumors. However, especially in late-stage cancer, this “precision oncology” strategy has not proven to be as transformative as people once hoped. Here, Curious Dr. George asks Clifford A. Reid, PhD, CEO of Travera, how his company is addressing this problem. Curious Dr. George: The U.S.… Read more »

  • January 17, 2023  

    How Would an Expert Manage His Own Advanced Hodgkin Lymphoma?

    With: Kevin Knopf, MD, MPH

    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 oncologist Kevin Knopf, MD, how he would handle his own advanced Hodgkin lymphoma. Curious Dr. George: Please consider this hypothetical scenario—as a very busy practicing clinical oncologist during the COVID-19 pandemic, you were not paying much attention to… Read more »

  • December 30, 2022  

    All-Clear Follow-Up: Hydrogen Peroxide Appears to Treat Oral and Skin Lesions

    With: Bert Vorstman, MDRonald Piana

    In 2020, writer Ronald Piana shared with our readers his own experience of using hydrogen peroxide to quickly eradicate a clinically diagnosed pre-malignant oral leukoplakia—a condition that can develop into oral cancer. Here, Curious Dr. George follows up with him and hears an additional perspective from retired urologic surgeon Bert Vorstman, MD, MS, FAAP, FRACS, FACS. Curious Dr. George: About 2 years have passed since you… Read more »

  • December 23, 2022  

    10 Things I Learned in 10 Years at Cancer Commons That Could Save Your Life

    With: Marty Tenenbaum, PhD

    After facing his own cancer, Marty Tenenbaum, PhD, founded Cancer Commons to help others dealing with the disease. Here, Curious Dr. George asks him to share what he has learned. Curious Dr. George: As a well-known survivor of metastatic melanoma, and as the founder of Cancer Commons, you are often sought out by friends and acquaintances who have just been diagnosed with cancer or… Read more »

  • November 10, 2022  

    A Powerful Knowledge Base for Precision Oncology

    With: Hongxin Zhang

    Genetic mutations found in a tumor can be important clues to the patient’s best treatment options. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in New York has developed a product called OncoKB™, which enables anyone to access and navigate key clinical information about the various genetic abnormalities that may be found in tumors. Here, Curious Dr. George asks MSK Lead Software Engineer Hongxin Zhang about… Read more »